Justice Department To Participate In Stanford Law's CodeX Project

STANFORD, CA — The Department of Justice announced in a statement Tuesday it will participate in a Stanford Law School project that aims to help the agency develop 21st Century tools to enforce laws that go back to the 19th Century.

The DOJ will be joined by academics from law, computer science and economics, among others, to discuss how tools of the digital age can improve antitrust enforcement.

The Computational Antitrust project is being hosted by the Stanford University CodeX Center.

Professor Thibault Schrepel created the project.

“There are important debates happening today about how we should enforce the antitrust laws, but everyone agrees that enforcement agencies should make decisions using the best tools available,” Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division Makan Delrahim said in a statement.

“We look forward to being part of this valuable dialog about antitrust enforcement.”

Antitrust Division representatives will participate in workshops and dialogs about how to integrate cutting-edge computational developments into antitrust law and policy, the DOJ said.

The division’s participation in the Computational Antitrust project builds on initiatives announced last year that aim to increase the its capabilities and engagement in emerging technologies relevant to antitrust enforcement, the DOJ said.

According to the DOJ the division has given attorneys and staff the opportunity to take coursework focused on blockchain, artificial intelligence and Machine Learning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, and last year held a Public Workshop on Venture Capital and Antitrust, which was co-hosted with Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School.

“Together, these efforts reflect a commitment to ensuring that the division remains at the leading edge of antitrust enforcement,” the DOJ statement said.

To learn more about the Computational Antitrust project and other participating agencies, please visit the project’s website here.