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California Antitrust Bill Takes Aim at Price-Fixing and Predatory Pricing

By  |  May 4, 2026

California lawmakers are pushing a sweeping rewrite of the state’s antitrust laws that could make it easier to challenge pricing practices long scrutinized by regulators, particularly predatory pricing and potentially coordinated pricing behavior.

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    Assembly Bill 1776, known as the COMPETE Act, would give plaintiffs broader tools to sue companies accused of using below-cost pricing to weaken or eliminate competitors. According to Bloomberg, the legislation would loosen longstanding legal standards that have traditionally made predatory pricing claims difficult to win in court.

    Under current federal antitrust doctrine, companies accused of predatory pricing generally cannot be held liable unless plaintiffs can show the business priced products below cost and had a “realistic prospect of recouping losses” after competitors were forced out of the market. Per Bloomberg, AB 1776 would remove or significantly weaken that requirement in California, making it easier for competitors, consumers, or state enforcers to challenge aggressive discounting strategies.

    Read more: Amazon Faces New Allegations of Forcing Price Hikes Across Rival Retailers

    That change could have major implications for industries where companies routinely use low prices to gain market share, including retail, technology, grocery, transportation, and e-commerce. According to Bloomberg, critics argue the bill could expose businesses to lawsuits over legitimate competitive pricing that benefits consumers.

    The legislation also reflects growing concern over modern pricing practices driven by artificial intelligence and consumer data. Per Bloomberg, lawmakers are examining “surveillance pricing,” where companies use AI systems, purchasing histories, location data, or other personal information to set individualized prices. Supporters of the bill argue these systems can allow dominant firms to undercut rivals or extract higher prices from certain customers without traditional market transparency.

    While the bill is not focused specifically on classic price-fixing—where competing companies secretly agree to set prices, limit output, or divide markets—legal observers say the broader antitrust language could create new scrutiny around algorithmic pricing systems if multiple firms rely on similar AI tools or shared data sources. According to Bloomberg, the proposed reforms could challenge long-established interpretations of how pricing conduct is evaluated under antitrust law.

    Source: Bloomberg