Abstract

New, cutting-edge problems require new, cutting-edge solutions. But do they? Since the passage of the Sherman Act, antitrust enforcers have continuously challenged novel price fixing practices—all for the benefit of the consumer and healthy competition. As Aritficial Intelligence develops, we may face a future where each firm has its own AI pricing agent that can react instantaneously to changes in the market. Can we hold firms accountable if those AIs collude on price, even without any human input?   
This Note evaluates the power of algorithmic pricing in cartel formation and operation. These algorithms create market conditions that are a breeding ground for anticompetitive practices, and their utilization may make collusive pricing inevitable. Through an understanding of the current enforcement mechanisms of the Sherman and F.T.C. Acts, this Note analyzes the challenges that current enforcement practices have in confronting algorithmic pricing and theorizes how antitrust enforcers can combat the competitive harms of tacit algorithmic collusion moving forward within the framework of our current laws.

Keywords: #AlgorithmicCollusion, #AntitrustEnforcement, #TacitCollusion, #PricingAlgorithms, #ShermanAct