The European Commission has launched two calls for contributions on competition in virtual worlds and generative artificial intelligence (‘AI') and sent requests for information to several large digital players.
All interested stakeholders are invited to share their experience and provide feedback on the level of competition in the context of virtual worlds and generative AI, and their insights on how competition law can help ensure that these new markets remain competitive. The European Commission will carefully review all input received through the calls for contributions. Following that review, the Commission may organise a workshop in the second quarter of 2024 to bring together all different perspectives emerging from the contributions and continue this reflection.
Virtual worlds are persistent, immersive environments, based on technologies including 3D and extended reality (XR), which make it possible to blend physical and digital worlds in real-time, for a variety of purposes such as designing, making simulations, collaborating, learning, socialising, carrying out transactions or providing entertainment.
Generative AI systems are AI systems that generate, in response to a user prompt, synthetic audio, image, video or text content, for a wide range of possible uses, and which can be applied to many different tasks in various fields.
Venture capital investment in AI in the EU is estimated at more than €7.2 billion in 2023. The size of the virtual worlds market in Europe is estimated to have reached more than €11 billion in 2023. Both technologies are expected to grow exponentially in the next years and are likely to have a major impact on how businesses compete.
Effective enforcement of EU competition rules is essential to maintain competition in the EU's Single Market, which is Europe's best asset in terms of creating jobs and economic growth. These calls for contributions follow other calls carried out in recent years regarding the application of EU competition rules in various contexts.
Source : Press European Commission Official