In this CERRE report, Friso Bostoen and Jan Krämer examine whether the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is equipped for the advent of agentic AI. They identify two potential competition risks:

1. Foreclosure of AI agents – foreclosure by an existing operating system provider with its pre-installed own AI agent or another AI agent
2. Foreclosure by AI agents – where powerful agents themselves become gatekeepers and steer demand anticompetitively.

The authors find that the DMA is surprisingly well-suited to address the near-term risks of foreclosure of AI agents, particularly through its obligations on mobile operating systems—already designated as gatekeepers. Existing provisions on interoperability, default status, and uninstallation apply directly to AI agents when embedded in core platform services (CPSs) like OSs, search engines or virtual assistants. The report recommends further strengthening the regime by extending click and query data-sharing obligations to virtual assistants and including them in rules that prevent forced integration of ancillary services.

Looking further ahead, the report analyses the risk that AI agents may themselves become gatekeepers. It concludes that the DMA’s “virtual assistant” CPS category—while originally designed with voice assistants in mind—can plausibly accommodate AI agents. Some legal uncertainties remain, especially regarding the identification of business users and how well the current definition of virtual assistants reflects more autonomous AI capabilities. The authors recommend clarifying these.

In both scenarios, many of the DMA’s obligations—on interoperability, default settings, ranking neutrality, and data use—remain relevant.

The authors argue that agentic AI could, in the short term, be designated as virtual assistants under the DAM without disrupting legal certainty. In the mid to long-term, legislative change provides a more legally certain way to capture the future iterations of AI agents.

This report fills an important gap in the policy debate. While regulators have focused on foundation models, the agentic layer of AI remains largely unexamined. As the market evolves, the DMA could serve as a powerful tool to safeguard contestability—if adapted thoughtfully and with foresight.

The report was presented and debated on 3 July 2025, during the CERRE public webinar “AI and the Future of Competition“. Read the "Is the DMA Ready for Agentic AI" report

The full interview can be found here.

TEIS is the premier academic workshop that focuses on analytical and theoretical models of information systems products and markets. The workshop provides a focused and intense environment for interaction among researchers to assist in the development of the field and to develop new scholars and scholarship.

The objective of the conference, organized by the TSE Digital Center at the Toulouse School of Economics, with the help of the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) is to discuss recent contributions to the understanding of the digital economy and its consequences for modern societies. The conference featured contributions in economics - theoretical, econometric, experimental and policy oriented - as well as contributions from other social sciences and computer and data science.

The conference theme “Digital Platforms for Emerging Societies” aims to examine the expansive role of information technology in driving economic and societal transformation across the globe. The particular interested is in how digital platforms influence community structures, social dynamics, and global economic trends in today’s diverse settings around the globe. Information systems research plays a vital role in analyzing how digital platforms create socio-economic value, drive innovation strategies, reform governance and processes, shape user behaviors, and/or the establishment of inclusive and sustainable digital platform ecosystems in different parts of the world.https://icis2024.aisconferences.org/
The following research papers were presented at ICIS 2024:

• Ben Messaoud, S., Krämer, J., & Sachs, N. (2024). The Odd One Out: An Experimental Investigation of Avatar-Mediated Communication on Homophily and Trust. Proceedings of International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2024. Bangkok, Thailand:
  This paper investigates how people perceive and trust others represented as avatars in digital environments. An online experiment was conducted and showed that avatars were perceived differently and trusted less, but only in environments with heterogeneous representation. https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2024/humtechinter/humtechinter/11/
• Krämer, J, & Sachs, N. (2024). Trusting in the Metaverse: On the Effects of Immersion and Avatar-Mediation on Trust in Virtual Work Environments. Proceedings of International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2024. Bangkok, Thailand:
  In a randomized controlled experiment with 152 participants we examined how Social Virtual Reality impacts trust and relationship-building compared to traditional videoconferencing. We found that Social VR does not hinder trust or the development of interpersonal relationships while enhancing co-presence and increasing anonymity. https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2024/digtech_fow/digtech_fow/21/
• Bhargava, H. K., Krämer, J., & Wipusanawan, C. (2024). Competition and innovation by search engines in the presence of preset defaults. Proceedings of International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2024. Bangkok, Thailand:
  This paper presents a game-theoretic model to examine the impact of setting one product as the default on competition and innovation in digital markets with (data-driven) network effects, with the prime example being search engines. We find that default settings reduce the competitive intensity, but the impact on innovation by the firms is ambiguous. https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2024/sharing_econ/sharing_econ/15

WISE is the premier academic research conference for the discussion of Information Systems topics through the lens of economics. It has been the leading conference for research bridging IT, digital transformation, and economics, for over 30 years. researchers are expected at WISE 2024 to bring forth cutting-edge research that studies how IT, in all its forms, addresses important business and societal questions. Modern IT-enabled phenomena have wide ranging impacts for consumers, firms, industries, and markets, making this a fascinating time to be an economics of IS researcher. https://sites.google.com/view/wiseconf2024
The following research paper was presented at WISE 2024:

• Bhargava, H. K., Krämer, J., & Wipusanawan, C. How Do Preset Defaults Impact Competition and Innovation under Network Effects?
  This paper presents a game-theoretic model to examine the impact of setting one product as the default on competition and innovation in digital markets, potentially with network effects. While the default settings enhance the market power of the default firm in the short run, the effects on innovation depend on the importance of network effects and the relative strengths of the firms.
   

The repeat exercise (StudIP 39613) will take place on 26.04. (12-18), 07.05., 14.05., 21.05. (14-20) in room HK 28 VR 003.

The WH (repeat) exam Digital Markets and Online Platforms will be held on 27.05.2024 at 12.30 pm, room HK 28 SR 001.

Registration is done via the chair using the registration form. Deadline for registration is 12.05.2024, 23.59.
Withdrawal from the exam is possible via email: ibusiness@uni-passau.de until 16.05.2024, 23.59.