Australia's competition watchdog tells inquiry agentic AI a key focus
By Sean Maguire ( October 16, 2026, 06:44 GMT | Insight) -- Australia’s competition watchdog told a parliamentary inquiry on Friday that artificial intelligence agents shopping and transacting for consumers are a key focus, warning of risks including collusion and entrenched market power. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission said highly personalized pricing could exploit vulnerable consumers, but it was not yet recommending further changes to the law in that area. Officials acknowledged uncertainty over liability for unlawful conduct by AI agents and said the watchdog was testing detection tools, although it had seen no evidence of anticompetitive conduct by agents in Australia.Australia’s competition watchdog told a parliamentary inquiry on Friday that artificial intelligence agents shopping and transacting for consumers are a key focus, warning of risks including collusion and entrenched market power....
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