Artificial Intelligence and Competition Workshop

Hosted by Monash Business School’s Impact Labs and Department of Economics, this half-day workshop will bring together leading scholars, policymakers, and industry representatives to discuss the implications of Artificial Intelligence for competition policy.

Featuring a keynote address by Professor Joshua Gans from University of Toronto, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Professor Stephen King, and featuring representatives from Amazon, Microsoft, and the ACCC, the panel will consider how the increasing use of AI is reshaping markets and competitive dynamics, and the challenges this poses for competition law, enforcement, and regulatory design in the Australian context.

The Program

1.30pm - Registration

2pm - Welcome by Professor Simon Wilkie

2.05pm - Keynote address by Professor Joshua Gans, University of Toronto: The Economics of Bicycles for the Mind

3.20pm - Afternoon tea

3.50pm - Panel session moderated by Dr Stephen King and featuring panellists Joshua Gans (University of Toronto), Christopher Yoo (University of Pennsylvania), Nicole Foster (Amazon Web Services), Fei Wu (Microsoft), Richard York (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission)

5.10 - 5.15pm - Closing remarks by A/Prof Chengsi Wang

Confirmed Speakers

Prof Joshua Gans, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Prof Gans is Professor of Strategic Management and holder of the Jeffrey S. Skoll Chair of Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Rotman School of Management, with cross-appointments in the University of Toronto’s Department of Economics and the Munk School. He is also Chief Economist of the Creative Destruction Lab. Previously, he was a foundation professor at Melbourne Business School and a faculty member at the University of New South Wales. Prof Gans holds a PhD from Stanford University and is a Research Associate of the NBER. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. His research focuses on innovation, technological competition, and regulation, and he is the author of several influential books on the economics of AI, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Prof  Stephen King, Productivity Commission

Dr King commenced a full-time term with the Productivity Commission in 2016, and has served as a part-time Commissioner from 2022. He is also a Professor of Practice at Monash University. Previously, he was a Professor of Economics at Monash University, Dean of the University’s Faculty of Business and Economics, and a Member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, where he chaired the Mergers Review Committee. Dr King’s expertise lies in competition economics, regulation, and industrial organisation. He holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and is a member of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

Prof Christopher Yoo, University of Pennsylvania

Currently the Imasogie Professor in Law and Technology, Communication, and Computer & Information Science at the university of Pennsylvania, Prof Yoo is one of the world’s leading authorities on law and technology. Also one of the most cited scholars in administrative and regulatory law as well as intellectual property, he has authored five books and over 100 scholarly works. 

Prof Yoo’s major research projects include investigating innovative ways to connect more people to the Internet; comparing antitrust law in China, Europe, and the US; analysing the technical determinants of optimal interoperability; promoting privacy and security for autonomous vehicles, medical devices, and the Internet’s routing architecture; and studying the regulation of Internet platforms. He is frequently called to testify before the US Congress, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, foreign governments, and international organizations. 

Nicole Foster, Amazon Web Services

Nicole Foster leads the direction and strategy of AI policy globally for Amazon Web Services (AWS) as well as the company’s public policy efforts in support of the AWS business in Canada. In this role, she focuses on digital policy issues including responsible AI, the regulation of emerging technology, digital infrastructure, economic development, and sustainability. She is currently on the board of directors for the Frontier Model Forum, the Empire Club of Canada, TechNation, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada.

Prior to joining Amazon in 2018, Nicole led the Toronto office for Global Public Affairs, providing senior public affairs counsel to clients. Before joining Global in 2004, Nicole worked for a number of years in political roles in Ottawa. Nicole is the past National Chair of Equal Voice, a multi-partisan group dedicated to raising the issue of women's under-representation in Canadian legislatures.

Fei Wu, Microsoft 

Ms Wu is a government affairs and public policy professional experienced in digital regulation and policy across both the public and private sectors. Her current role as Corporate Affairs Manager at Microsoft covers a broad range of issues including responsible AI, digital platform regulation, competition and consumer regulation, privacy, copyright, media regulation, and sustainability. Ms Wu has worked across the digital platforms, mergers, and exemptions branches at the ACCC, including during the Digital Platforms Inquiry, Ad Tech Inquiry, and the Digital Platform Services Inquiry. She began her career in the litigation practice at Freehills (now HSF Kramer, and has degrees from the University of Melbourne including Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) and a Master of Laws specialising in competition and technology regulation.

Richard York, General Manager, Economic Group, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Richard is responsible for managing the ACCC’s Economic Group. The group comprises over 25 specialist in-house economists that provide advice to the ACCC’s merger assessment, competition enforcement and regulatory divisions. He has over 25 years' experience providing economic advice within government agencies, the Federal Court of Australia and to private sector firms in the Asia-Pacific region. He has a Masters in Applied Economics and Econometrics and is presently undertaking a PhD within the Department of Economics at Monash University. He has also previously spent several years designing and teaching a post-graduate course on the economics of infrastructure regulation within the Law School at the University of Melbourne.