AI Ethics and Ordoliberalism 2.0: Towards A 'Digital Bill of Rights'

Voluntary corporate codes are insufficient: The paper argues that current AI governance relies too heavily on companies regulating themselves through voluntary codes of conduct, which lack adequate enforcement mechanisms and oversight structures to protect the public interest.

Hard-law legislation is necessary: The authors advocate for binding legal requirements rather than voluntary guidelines, emphasizing that effective AI governance requires enforceable rules with proper oversight structures to ensure accountability.

Competition policy should be part of AI ethics: The paper identifies an overlooked connection between AI ethics and antitrust/competition policy, suggesting that breaking up concentrated AI power among large corporations is essential to responsible AI development—not just a separate economic concern.

A "Digital Bill of Rights" framework is needed: Drawing on ordoliberal principles (which balance free markets with strong regulation), the authors propose establishing fundamental digital rights protections similar to constitutional protections, rather than treating AI governance as purely a technical or corporate ethics issue.

Current academic discourse has a blind spot: The paper highlights that existing AI ethics discussions in academia and policy circles don't adequately address how regulation and competition policy should work together, representing a significant gap in how we approach responsible AI governance.