Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson’s remarks at the International Competition Network (ICN) meeting reinforced three key points in antitrust: being pro-innovation is pro-consumer; abandoning consumer-centered antitrust is perilous; and regulatory overreach impedes the future of AI and tech innovation broadly.

Pro-Innovation is Pro-Consumer

Chair Ferguson’s focus on innovation is a welcome shift from past FTC rhetoric and actions. “Our innovators exhibit the key quality of underpinning their entrepreneurial spirit,” he said, “meaning they shrug off failure and are unashamed and unafraid to try again…That’s how new breakthrough ideas come to market.” 

Ferguson also said that “burdensome regulations make it difficult for small businesses to achieve the scale they need to compete.” The FTC’s actions in recent years illustrate this point, as they made it harder for startups to grow. One example is increasing the regulatory burden around mergers and acquisitions (M&A). That burden disproportionately impacts startups—roughly one-fifth of merger filings at the FTC since 2011 involve small businesses.

— The recent increase in antitrust enforcement activity by the FTC and the Department of Justice (DOJ) was followed by a sudden sharp decline in startup acquisitions by large companies, and an enormous drop in overall acquisitions of smaller startups, according to a recent report released by CCIA.

M&A is critical to innovation: it allows new technologies to scale, provides returns to early investors, and speeds products to market. Yet in the past, the FTC has treated it with suspicion and hurt American innovation as a result.

— Under the previous administration, the FTC applauded European regulators’ decision to block Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot, leaving the Roomba-maker on the brink of collapse, likely ceding the market to Chinese competitors—as we have noted previously.

Dangers of Abandoning Consumer-Centered Antitrust

The FTC Chair also noted that “by protecting the welfare of consumers and workers, the antitrust laws address economic power.” The FTC abandoned this principle in recent years. Rather than focusing on clear harm to consumers, the FTC prioritized company size and other arbitrary metrics—often seeking to block mergers or dismantle firms with little regard for consumers harms:

— Similarly, the agency’s ongoing antitrust case against Amazon is built on flawed market definitions and mischaracterizes the value Amazon provides to small businesses. Even the American Booksellers Association–which filed a motion to join the FTC’s lawsuit–acknowledged that Amazon has lowered prices for consumers.

The FTC should continue to build on Chair Ferguson’s comments, refocusing enforcement of antitrust laws on protecting consumers instead of protecting competitors by picking winners and losers in the market.

Regulatory Overreach Impedes the Future of AI

Chair Ferguson also warned that “the lessons we have learned from overregulation” must inform how we approach artificial intelligence: “I fear that if we confront AI with a regulatory sledgehammer, we will break it and deny our citizens its potential promise.”

These comments come at a time when competition is surging. China’s DeepSeek stunned the tech world earlier this year with an AI chatbot reportedly built at a fraction of the cost of U.S. models. Now more than ever, America needs its most innovative companies to secure its edge.

As we have previously written, investment in the U.S. tech ecosystem drives innovation and increases cost efficiency throughout the industry. Startups and established firms alike are competing—and collaborating—to build faster, cheaper, more capable technologies. The results speak for themselves:

— Artificial intelligence keeps getting cheaper due to scale. For example, an AI model is now 240 times less expensive than it was just two years ago.

— Over the next few years, U.S. companies and investors are expected to commit more than $1 trillion to AI development.

Chair Ferguson’s comments rightly identify AI as one of the most consequential sectors in the world. Misguided antitrust actions can slow innovation in AI and hurt consumers, and threaten America’s leadership in the world. Ferguson has talked about bringing “certainty and clarity” to the merger process, critical goals for businesses and investors who are anxiously watching to see how these words will translate into action. The innovation economy needs a clear signal that the U.S. remains open to responsible consolidation that accelerates growth, not policies that inject unnecessary friction and delay.