AI Agents and Collusion: The Two Faces of Agentic AI

The digital economy is becoming increasingly automated. Moving beyond traditional machine-learning systems, companies are rapidly adopting AI agents and agentic AI systems capable of autonomously performing complex tasks and streamlining decision-making processes. These technologies promise significant gains in efficiency and consumer welfare. At the same time, a growing body of economic literature suggests that AI agents can learn increasingly sophisticated forms of coordination capable of prod