Todd Davies
@todddavi.es
Competition Law PhD Candidate @ University College London
Working on a theory of the competitive process, polycrisis, private power, political economy, ecology and democracy. Previously a software engineer.
https://todddavi.es
🍉🌱
Working on a theory of the competitive process, polycrisis, private power, political economy, ecology and democracy. Previously a software engineer.
https://todddavi.es
🍉🌱
Pinned
Todd Davies
@todddavi.es
· Mar 21
Error Costs, Platform Regulation, and Democracy
Abstract. Competition law has long favoured an error-cost framework that advocates for non-intervention under the assumption that market power self-correct
doi.org
How can decisions about whether competition authorities should intervene against tech platforms have implications for democracy? 🗳️
@spencercohen.bsky.social and I tackle that question in a new paper published in Journal of Competition Law & Economics! 🧵
doi.org/10.1093/jocl... (OA)
@spencercohen.bsky.social and I tackle that question in a new paper published in Journal of Competition Law & Economics! 🧵
doi.org/10.1093/jocl... (OA)
I'm analysing the Commission's Google AdTech Decision and finding it exceedingly difficult because of the _insane_ number of redactions. There are 4904 redactions yet only 2247 paragraphs in the whole thing. Seriously?!
January 29, 2026 at 8:14 PM
I'm analysing the Commission's Google AdTech Decision and finding it exceedingly difficult because of the _insane_ number of redactions. There are 4904 redactions yet only 2247 paragraphs in the whole thing. Seriously?!
Reposted by Todd Davies
Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot
It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2026 at 7:18 AM
Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Todd Davies
Feels like something cracked today in the transatlantic alliance. Europeans have been swallowing their pride, bitting their tongues, and bending the knee. That strategy may have bought them time but it has now clearly failed. It also had a major cost - it has made the WH think Europe will cave. 1/
January 18, 2026 at 3:04 AM
Feels like something cracked today in the transatlantic alliance. Europeans have been swallowing their pride, bitting their tongues, and bending the knee. That strategy may have bought them time but it has now clearly failed. It also had a major cost - it has made the WH think Europe will cave. 1/
Reposted by Todd Davies
I find Gmail’s new “write this for me” feature deeply sinister. They’re trying to convince you that you are dumb and helpless. Don’t let them steal your ability to formulate thoughts and communicate. You were capable of writing an email in 2022 and you’re capable now.
January 15, 2026 at 7:49 PM
I find Gmail’s new “write this for me” feature deeply sinister. They’re trying to convince you that you are dumb and helpless. Don’t let them steal your ability to formulate thoughts and communicate. You were capable of writing an email in 2022 and you’re capable now.
Reposted by Todd Davies
"Machine Learning" and "Artificial Neural Networks," not LLM or GPT type "generative AI"
Scientists have used artificial intelligence to create an enzyme that can eat one of the toughest plastics on Earth. The enzyme breaks polyurethane down into reusable chemicals in just 12 hours at 50°C, turning it back into raw materials. Truly circular recycling. buff.ly/oUxRjjl #ShareGoodNewsToo
Neural network finds an enzyme that can break down polyurethane
Given a dozen hours, the enzyme can turn a foam pad into reusable chemicals.
buff.ly
January 13, 2026 at 3:19 PM
"Machine Learning" and "Artificial Neural Networks," not LLM or GPT type "generative AI"
Reposted by Todd Davies
Academics - if you are expert in the history of the fourth amendment, today is a day you could pitch your favorite news outlet with a piece about it. If you're interested, do a little writing, then email me lollardfish at gmail and I'll give you some free op-ed coaching.
What’s this old thing
January 12, 2026 at 10:16 PM
Academics - if you are expert in the history of the fourth amendment, today is a day you could pitch your favorite news outlet with a piece about it. If you're interested, do a little writing, then email me lollardfish at gmail and I'll give you some free op-ed coaching.
A paper I wrote (on platform regulation & democracy) got nominated for the Concurrences Antitrust Writing Awards! I wrote a short blog post explaining it here:
todddavi.es/2026-concurr...
There's a public vote to determine "reader's choice" so please take a look & vote it you're interested :)
todddavi.es/2026-concurr...
There's a public vote to determine "reader's choice" so please take a look & vote it you're interested :)
January 12, 2026 at 8:02 PM
A paper I wrote (on platform regulation & democracy) got nominated for the Concurrences Antitrust Writing Awards! I wrote a short blog post explaining it here:
todddavi.es/2026-concurr...
There's a public vote to determine "reader's choice" so please take a look & vote it you're interested :)
todddavi.es/2026-concurr...
There's a public vote to determine "reader's choice" so please take a look & vote it you're interested :)
I finally deleted my account on X today.
If you haven't already, this is a reminder :) It feels good!
If you haven't already, this is a reminder :) It feels good!
January 10, 2026 at 7:43 PM
I finally deleted my account on X today.
If you haven't already, this is a reminder :) It feels good!
If you haven't already, this is a reminder :) It feels good!
Reposted by Todd Davies
If the Palestine Action hunger strikers die - which they could do at any moment, as they are now very close to the end - it will be the government that killed them. Today’s column explains why. Please share, and write urgently to your MP.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Let’s be clear: if the Palestine Action hunger strikers die, the government will bear moral responsibility | George Monbiot
The three remaining hunger strikers have been convicted of nothing. Yet with astonishing cruelty, ministers refuse to listen to their reasonable demands, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:07 AM
If the Palestine Action hunger strikers die - which they could do at any moment, as they are now very close to the end - it will be the government that killed them. Today’s column explains why. Please share, and write urgently to your MP.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Todd Davies
Reposted by Todd Davies
Computational Antitrust? "The best code is no code at all" et al. @todddavi.es ourcuriousamalgam.com/episode/358-...
#358 The Future of Enforcement and Compliance? How Computational Antitrust is Used – Our Curious Amalgam
ourcuriousamalgam.com
January 5, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Computational Antitrust? "The best code is no code at all" et al. @todddavi.es ourcuriousamalgam.com/episode/358-...
Reposted by Todd Davies
Anyway, it's hard to see how this makes the US more secure. And I can't help looking at the pictures of this massive naval deployment and thinking about how much it cost relative to giving Ukraine what it needs to defend itself. 10/10
January 3, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Anyway, it's hard to see how this makes the US more secure. And I can't help looking at the pictures of this massive naval deployment and thinking about how much it cost relative to giving Ukraine what it needs to defend itself. 10/10
Reposted by Todd Davies
🔥 This is huge 🔥
NEW YouGov poll: British are now MORE pro-EU than France or Italy.
👉 50% would vote to be in the EU
👉 Only 31% want to stay out
👉 Strip away don’t knows 👉62–38 in favour of EU membership.
🔥 Brexit is no more and Parliament must catch up!
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
NEW YouGov poll: British are now MORE pro-EU than France or Italy.
👉 50% would vote to be in the EU
👉 Only 31% want to stay out
👉 Strip away don’t knows 👉62–38 in favour of EU membership.
🔥 Brexit is no more and Parliament must catch up!
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
British voters want to be part of EU more than French and Italians, poll reveals
Exclusive: Campaigners said Labour had to ‘catch up with public opinion’ as PM faces calls for closer ties to the EU after Brexit
www.independent.co.uk
January 3, 2026 at 8:27 AM
🔥 This is huge 🔥
NEW YouGov poll: British are now MORE pro-EU than France or Italy.
👉 50% would vote to be in the EU
👉 Only 31% want to stay out
👉 Strip away don’t knows 👉62–38 in favour of EU membership.
🔥 Brexit is no more and Parliament must catch up!
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
NEW YouGov poll: British are now MORE pro-EU than France or Italy.
👉 50% would vote to be in the EU
👉 Only 31% want to stay out
👉 Strip away don’t knows 👉62–38 in favour of EU membership.
🔥 Brexit is no more and Parliament must catch up!
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
TIL that "Podcast" is derived from the words "iPod" and "broadcast". 🎙️
January 2, 2026 at 12:40 PM
TIL that "Podcast" is derived from the words "iPod" and "broadcast". 🎙️
Generative AI is having huge effects all across society. But how is it changing competition law and its enforcement? I was invited onto the Our Curious Amalgam podcast of the American Bar Association to discuss, and the episode came out yesterday:
todddavi.es/blog/the-fut...
todddavi.es/blog/the-fut...
Todd Davies | The Future of Enforcement and Compliance? How Computational Antitrust is Used
todddavi.es
December 30, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Generative AI is having huge effects all across society. But how is it changing competition law and its enforcement? I was invited onto the Our Curious Amalgam podcast of the American Bar Association to discuss, and the episode came out yesterday:
todddavi.es/blog/the-fut...
todddavi.es/blog/the-fut...
I'm in Tech Policy Press today exploring the intersection of competition law and tech expertise. Who are tech experts? What do they know? And how might competition regulators use them best in an increasingly digital economy?
www.techpolicy.press/who-are-tech...
@techpolicypress.bsky.social
www.techpolicy.press/who-are-tech...
@techpolicypress.bsky.social
Who are Tech Experts and What Can They Bring to Competition Enforcement? | TechPolicy.Press
Tech experts are playing an increasingly large role in competition enforcement, writes Todd Davies. But who are these experts, and what are they experts in?
www.techpolicy.press
December 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM
I'm in Tech Policy Press today exploring the intersection of competition law and tech expertise. Who are tech experts? What do they know? And how might competition regulators use them best in an increasingly digital economy?
www.techpolicy.press/who-are-tech...
@techpolicypress.bsky.social
www.techpolicy.press/who-are-tech...
@techpolicypress.bsky.social
Reposted by Todd Davies
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Analysis: OpenAI is a loss-making machine, how can it survive?
Don't call it a bubble! Loss-making monster OpenAI is on the hook for $1.4 trillion (with a T) in compute commitments. How can this go on?
www.windowscentral.com
November 29, 2025 at 11:30 PM
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
The Italian Competition Authority has imposed interim measures on Meta for tying its AI assistant into WhatsApp. An extremely welcome development! I wrote up an analysis in the Kluwer Competition Law Blog: legalblogs.wolterskluwer.com/competition-...
The Italian Competition Authority Imposes Interim Measures in its Abuse of Dominance Case Against Meta AI
As previously covered on this blog, Meta recently decided to integrate its AI assistant (Meta AI) into its WhatsApp platform, introducing the ability to chat to Meta AI at various points within the Wh...
legalblogs.wolterskluwer.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:57 PM
The Italian Competition Authority has imposed interim measures on Meta for tying its AI assistant into WhatsApp. An extremely welcome development! I wrote up an analysis in the Kluwer Competition Law Blog: legalblogs.wolterskluwer.com/competition-...
Reposted by Todd Davies
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Reposted by Todd Davies
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:59 PM
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
Reposted by Todd Davies
This is, of course, a fascinating thread from Kate asking why Google is effectively cannibalizing its own market for both digital ads on third party properties and search ads, by effectively taking away the incentive to click through to third party sites. I have a theory as to why they're doing it.
So this ad revenue metric is indicative of such a fascinating and weird set of business decisions by Google to inexplicably kill of SEO-- and I honestly don't get how they think this is going to pay off for them in the long run.
🧵
1/
🧵
1/
Stereogum says Google's switch to AI Overviews reduced its ad revenue by *70 percent* www.theverge.com/entertainmen...
November 18, 2025 at 9:26 PM
This is, of course, a fascinating thread from Kate asking why Google is effectively cannibalizing its own market for both digital ads on third party properties and search ads, by effectively taking away the incentive to click through to third party sites. I have a theory as to why they're doing it.
Reposted by Todd Davies
In applying AI to material science, biology, etc, capitalism is trying to shed science.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
Jeff Bezos Creates A.I. Start-Up Where He Will Be Co-Chief Executive
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:12 PM
In applying AI to material science, biology, etc, capitalism is trying to shed science.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
Reposted by Todd Davies
In 1850 the weight of all the world's wild mammals equalled the weight of humans and our livestock
Today they are outweighed 1 to 20
Reconfiguring life on this planet to produce cheap meat and dairy
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Today they are outweighed 1 to 20
Reconfiguring life on this planet to produce cheap meat and dairy
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 28, 2025 at 11:53 AM
In 1850 the weight of all the world's wild mammals equalled the weight of humans and our livestock
Today they are outweighed 1 to 20
Reconfiguring life on this planet to produce cheap meat and dairy
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Today they are outweighed 1 to 20
Reconfiguring life on this planet to produce cheap meat and dairy
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Todd Davies
Big story from Sky news. It is a mistake to think the DSA alone is going to fix this. This requires more, including and most particularly enforcement of GDPR Art 9 news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Big story from Sky news. It is a mistake to think the DSA alone is going to fix this. This requires more, including and most particularly enforcement of GDPR Art 9 news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Reposted by Todd Davies
"The authoritarian populists target Verfassungsblog not only for what it does, but also for what it is: an open space dedicated to the serious and systematic pursuit of truth."
The AfD is asking questions about us and sending a message. No big surprise here. We are staying on course with our goal of providing constitutional expertise on the challenges democracy faces in Germany, the U.S., and elsewhere. Read more in our new editorial by MAX STEINBEIS buff.ly/eVxn5WT
Counting on You to Count on Us: The highly interesting question of how Verfassungsblog is financed
The highly interesting question of how Verfassungsblog is financed
verfassungsblog.de
November 3, 2025 at 1:17 PM
"The authoritarian populists target Verfassungsblog not only for what it does, but also for what it is: an open space dedicated to the serious and systematic pursuit of truth."