The Sheriff of Silicon Valley: Lina Khan’s FTC agenda for M&A, AI Acquisitions, and Non-Competes

Lina Khan’s FTC has been the most active in decades, notably challenging tech giants and adopting a more hands-on approach to regulating the digital age. On today’s episode of No Priors, Lina Khan joins Elad and Sarah to discuss her regulatory philosophy for tech markets and what the industry can expect for future M&A deals. She shares her approach to overseeing emerging technology sectors, including AI at the model layer, and her work to ban non-competes on a federal level. Khan also offers insights into the realities of leading a government agency, the scarcity of young leaders in power, and how she measures the FTC’s impact.

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Show Notes: 

(0:00) Introduction

(0:56) Lina Khan’s background and path to the FTC

(2:35) Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox

(4:20) Frameworks for regulating M&A in young markets

(8:50) Khan’s perspective on AI acquisitions

(12:18) What founders can expect from Khan’s M&A environment 

(14:55) Promoting competition at the large model layer

(17:01) Creating fair AI regulation

(18:40) FTC’s work to ban non-competes

(20:31) Why so few young people hold power in government today

(22:18) The realities of running a government agency

(24:20) Measuring the impact of FTC