By: Emily Yu

The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) hosted its yearly Capital Forum in Washington, D.C. between December 8 and 10, 2025.  Panels touched on new developments in technology and longstanding areas of AG interest alike, but all centered around goods and services consumed by nearly every American.

Social Media and AI

Hawaii AG Anne Lopez and Ohio AG Dave Yost moderated a panel addressing youth mental health and social media use.  The panel focused on the use of AI and machine learning through collaborative filtering—suggesting items to users based on the behaviors of similar users—and tools used by AI chatbots to prolong conversations with users.  The panelists discussed the current legislative landscape, including potential expansions of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), attempts to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), and the success of states in passing “safety by design” bills, such as New York’s Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act.  The panel also offered potential areas ripe for future enforcement, such as microtransactions that occur on gaming platforms and technology or AI integration into children’s toys.

Predictive Markets

This panel, moderated by Washington AG Nick Brown, featured speakers representing the gaming industry and predictive markets—exchanges where people trade contracts on the outcomes of future events.  The panelists debated the similarities and differences between predictive markets and sports betting platforms, noting unresolved questions about coexistence and regulatory scope.  Central to the panel’s discussion was the CFTC’s authority and regulatory capabilities and whether other governmental entities either currently, or should in the future, have authority to regulate these exchanges.  The panelists discussed enforcement actions taken in this space and advisory warnings issued to state gaming licensees against operating in the predictive markets space.

Driving Down Costs for American Families

This panel’s topic reflects newly-installed NAAG President Connecticut AG William Tong’s Presidential Initiative.  AG Tong provided an update on the multistate generic drug price-fixing cases, and panelist New Hampshire AG John Formella weighed in with related industry concerns about healthcare roll-ups—the purchase of community healthcare practices by private equity and other large buyers.  Missouri AG Catherine Hanaway, another panelist, highlighted her office’s lawsuit against Dollar General over in-store listed prices differing from prices at checkout.  AG Tong relatedly addressed junk fees and shrinkflation—the reduction in size or weight of retail products for the same or higher price consumers were previously paying—and shared that his office is investigating wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers of grocery store products for potential price gouging.

Antitrust Enforcement

Panelists Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti and Colorado Deputy AG for Consumer Protection Nathan Blake focused the panel on antitrust cases that affect consumers daily lives, like the Kroger-Albertsons merger.  The panelists and moderator Minnesota Assistant AG Elizabeth Odette also discussed antitrust investigations and litigation related to the use of algorithm and AI tools, such as the DOJ’s and states’ Agri Stats litigation.  AG Skrmetti shared that he believes there are antitrust concerns when companies use technology to consolidate and share data on pricing, which they clearly would not be allowed to do if they were physically speaking to each other, and he advised other AGs to get engaged now as algorithmic pricing analysis will continue to infuse many industries.

AG Skrmetti also discussed concerns with large, institutional investors and asset managers engaged in proxy voting that results in the coordinated implementation of ESG initiatives in multiple companies within the same industry, as that too is an example of collusive behavior that would be clearly unlawful if the companies were doing it themselves.  The panelists, however, acknowledged the need to balance robust enforcement with support for technological innovation.  Looking ahead, they flagged technology, agriculture, entertainment, and asset manager influence as potential areas of AG antitrust scrutiny.

Takeaways

The 2025 NAAG Capital Forum’s panel discussions focused heavily on AGs’ concerns over wide-reaching issues that affect almost all consumers, from their screens to their shopping carts.  Regardless of industry, businesses that have a public-facing product of some sort would be well-advised to stay attuned to AG regulatory and investigatory activity moving forward.