How Future-Proof is the DMA? A Case Study Of AI Agents

ABSTRACT The Digital Markets Act (DMA) was adopted to address known (competition) issues in digital markets. Its effectiveness with regard to emerging technologies—that is, its future-proofness—is therefore an open question. In this article, we tackle that question through a case study of AI agents. AI agents are the most consequential emerging technology on the horizon, with the potential both to disrupt existing gatekeepers and to create gatekeepers in their own right; however, policymakers did not consider the inclusion of AI agents when designing the DMA. We start by explaining the key building blocks of agentic AI and by identifying potential competition concerns. Next, we explore whether AI agents could fall within the DMA’s scope (as core platform services) and whether the ensuing obligations are meaningful when applied in this new context. We find that the DMA is surprisingly future-proof in the face of agentic AI, but we also make recommendations on interpretations and amendments of the DMA to ensure its future effectiveness and legal certainty.