AI surveillance, conspiring bots on watchdog's radar

Key points

• The consumer watchdog is examining how artificial intelligence may be used to set different prices for different shoppers. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission told a parliamentary inquiry that personalised pricing becomes harmful when it is highly granular and targets vulnerable customers.
• The watchdog said giving different prices to groups is not currently against Australian consumer law. It also warned about shopping bots that may favour certain brands, and about AI tools helping scammers operate at scale.
• The commission is also taking Microsoft to court over alleged misleading pricing linked to its Copilot AI assistant.