A top federal antitrust official delivered a stern message to corporate America on Thursday, cautioning businesses against making false claims about artificial intelligence when seeking government approval for mergers.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi, who leads the Justice Department’s merger review operations, spoke at a New York University event where he addressed what he sees as a growing trend of companies misrepresenting AI’s impact on their industries.
While Assefi emphasized that his department welcomes communication from companies throughout the merger approval process, he made clear that deceptive tactics won’t be tolerated.
“We know when you are trying to mislead us,” Assefi stated during his remarks.
The federal official specifically addressed companies’ tendency to exaggerate AI’s disruptive effects as justification for proposed business combinations.
“We know you will be tempted to tell us that AI is replacing your industries. We get it. We hear that a lot. For us to take it seriously, we expect it to be backed up with actual evidence,” he explained, according to his prepared statement.
The warning comes as artificial intelligence continues to reshape various business sectors, with companies increasingly citing technological disruption as grounds for merger approvals.
