Competition regulator turns to AI to smash bid-rigging

The UK government’s competition watchdog has turned to artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle the “significant risk” of bid rigging.

Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) head Sarah Cardell said the body was trialling an advanced tool in an attempt to catch companies distorting contests for public sector work.

Last month, the watchdog raided offices of contractors and technical advisors from several unnamed firms as it launched an investigation into suspected bid-rigging on school roofing contracts.

Cardell (pictured) told the Financial Times that the government faced a “significant risk” from collusion that would make public sector contracts more expensive.

She added: “We’ve now got the capability to be able to scan bidding data at scale to spot anomalies… and to identify areas of potential anticompetitive conduct.”

The pilot programme, which is taking place with one unnamed government department so far, was “proving quite successful”, according to Cardell.

The CMA declined to give any further details of its AI trial when contacted by Construction News.

In December, the regulator revealed it had “reason to suspect” that firms providing roofing and construction services had colluded on bids for work funded through the Department for Education.

The CMA said it was looking into whether this activity breached the Competition Act 1998.

The watchdog fined 10 construction firms a total of almost £60m in 2023, Cardell said in a blog post in November last year.

She added: “We are digging into how, with better data collection and sharing, AI could detect illegal practices, helping to reduce public expenditure and save the taxpayer potentially billions of pounds.”

Cardell’s post made clear the importance the CMA places on effective procurement.

“History and evidence show us that where competition is stronger, productivity and wage growth will be higher,” she wrote.

“We have seen time and again how fair, open, effective competition and market contestability can be catalysts for investment and game-changing innovation.”