Former DOJ Chief Kanter Rejects AI Antitrust Exemptions

In a recent interview on The Verge's Decoder podcast, former Department of Justice antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter strongly opposed granting artificial intelligence developers antitrust exemptions. As prominent AI labs like Anthropic and Google DeepMind face internal safety disputes, some industry leaders have requested legal immunity to coordinate on safety standards. Kanter dismissed these requests, comparing the situation to aviation and automotive manufacturing, where companies like Boeing and Airbus must independently ensure their products are safe without colluding with competitors.

Kanter outlined two ways to view the industry's sudden push for regulation. While some researchers genuinely fear a doomsday scenario—with some estimating a greater than 10 percent chance that AI could destroy humanity—Kanter also offered a cynical interpretation. He suggested that cash-strapped AI firms might be seeking a government-sanctioned slowdown to ease competitive pressure and protect their valuations ahead of initial public offerings. He emphasized that existing antitrust laws already permit legitimate security collaborations, such as sharing threat intelligence, making broad exemptions unnecessary.

Rather than relying on new antitrust carve-outs, Kanter pointed to product liability as a viable path forward, citing a recent landmark case where Meta settled over child safety and mental health concerns. While Section 230 historically shielded online platforms from liability, Kanter argued that companies must be held legally responsible when their digital agents cause harm. This stance has sparked an unusual political realignment, with conservative figures like David Sacks, Donald Trump's former AI czar, publicly agreeing with Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan that existing antitrust frameworks are sufficient.

Kanter also dismissed the common industry warning that strict domestic regulation will allow China to dominate the AI field, calling it a "convenient boogeyman" similar to AT&T's failed national security arguments against its Reagan-era breakup. For AI practitioners and developers, Kanter's perspective signals that the regulatory future will likely focus on strict product liability rather than antitrust relief. Engineers and executives must prioritize building safe systems from the outset, as the legal system is poised to hold companies directly accountable for the actions of their autonomous agents.