AI Pricing Puts Consumer Control and Copyright at Stake

A United Kingdom coalition of 23 organisations, including the English Premier League, has warned the Albanese government that Australia could become a “content laundering nation” for AI companies if copyright laws are weakened. In the United States, legislators, regulators and consumers face a separate question: how much pricing power businesses should exercise through algorithms and personal data.

The issues meet around who sets the rules and who can see how automated systems work. Retailers say digital price labels save workers time and keep prices current. Consumer advocates and labour unions warn the technology could allow surge or personalized pricing. The source article doesn’t establish that these practices are widespread in grocery stores.

Who Controls the Rules

Digital price labels are reaching major U.S. retailers, including Walmart and Whole Foods, after years of use in Europe and Asia. Legislators in at least 30 states have considered pricing bills this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The Federal Trade Commission has proposed an enforcement policy warning that failing to disclose the use of personal data to set individualized prices could violate consumer protection law.

Walmart CEO John Furner wrote that the labels aren’t used to raise prices based on weather, time of day or an individual shopper. “We price the product, not the person,” he wrote. Companies don’t always explain what customer data they collect or how they use it, a gap that feeds consumer suspicion, said Katie Thomas, who leads an internal consumer behavior think tank at management consulting firm Kearney.

Thomas said social media posts falsely claim Walmart’s planned electronic shelf labels scan shoppers’ faces or cellphones to set individualized prices. Asa Farquhar of retail technology company Relex Solutions said retailers generally update shelf prices on a regular schedule, often weekly, because shoppers value consistency. Researchers who tracked prices at an unnamed grocery chain found “virtually no surge pricing” after the labels arrived.

Personal Data and Pricing Power

Dynamic pricing changes prices in response to market conditions, including supply and demand. Airlines adjust fares as departures approach, while Uber raises fares when demand exceeds available drivers. Decodo tracked price changes in 2025 across electronics, clothing and home-improvement supplies; about half of the U.S. changes it recorded were decreases, said Gabriele Vitke, a senior product marketing manager.

Personalized pricing offers different prices or discounts based on information such as location, income and web-browsing habits. An FTC staff report released in January 2025 found that intermediaries offering tools to tailor prices and promotions worked with at least 250 clients, including grocery and clothing retailers. Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut recently enacted restrictions on using shoppers’ personal data to determine prices. The Maryland and New Jersey laws focus on groceries, with exceptions for certain loyalty discounts and other promotions; Connecticut’s law covers a wider range of retail purchases.

California prosecutors sued Target in 2022, alleging its app showed lower prices before shoppers entered stores and raised them once they were inside. Target agreed to a $5 million settlement and a ban on using geofencing technology to increase prices. Target denied personalizing prices based on guests’ data or behavior and said it remained “committed to clear, transparent pricing.”

Algorithms, Profits and Bot Traffic

A survey by global consulting company Simon-Kucher of more than 2,200 business leaders in 28 countries and 39 industries found that 41% used AI software to gather market intelligence, including competitors’ prices, while 28% used it for “real-time price optimization.” The National Retail Federation said algorithmic pricing monitors and adjusts prices according to supply, demand, seasonality, competitors’ prices and other factors.

In a 2023 antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, the FTC alleged that Project Nessie identified products whose prices could rise with competitors likely to follow, generating more than $1 billion in excess profits. A trial is scheduled for next year. Amazon said the allegations “grossly mischaracterize” the tool, which it said aimed to prevent price-matching from producing unsustainably low prices; the company said it tested and scrapped the tool before the lawsuit.

The Australian Financial Review Companies page also promoted an item warning that AI bots generate more than 57 per cent of web traffic and pose risks for retail, banking and travel. Its summary said JPMorgan filters out external artificial intelligence agents. The page gave no further details from the item.