AI Cartels
Publication date: February 26, 2026
Pricing API language models, collaboratively restricting access to the most advanced models, blocking interoperability, collaborative lobbying for regulations that hinder startup entry – is market ready for this?
An AI cartel is a situation in which AI-developing companies secretly or openly cooperate in a way that restricts competition—for example, by fixing prices, blocking access to technology, or jointly eliminating smaller players from the market.
