FTC and DOJ Launch Inquiry into Updating Antitrust Guidance for Business Collaborations

On February 23, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division launched a joint public inquiry, inviting comments on whether new antitrust guidance for business collaborations is needed and what content such guidance should cover for “a range of collaborations utilized to drive innovation and promote competition in the modern economy.” The Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors issued in 2000 laid out an analytical framework that the FTC and DOJ would apply when assessing antitrust issues raised by collaborations among competitors, and thus has been a valuable resource for the business community when considering a range of collaborative actions. However, the agencies withdrew that long-standing guidance in 2024 due to changes in jurisprudence and technologies. Now the agencies follow a case-by-case approach and apply general antitrust principles, so businesses must chart their own analytical framework.

The FTC and DOJ solicit comments on a few specific questions:

• What topics would benefit from additional guidance? Some examples include joint licensing arrangements and conditional dealing with competitors.
• What new technologies and business models, such as algorithmic pricing, information and data sharing or labor collaborations, would benefit from additional guidance?
• What “significant legal, economic, or technological developments” should the agencies consider?

This inquiry provides businesses and other stakeholders with an important opportunity to weigh in on the scope and subject matter of antitrust enforcement guidance relating to business collaborations, including those facilitated by new technologies.

Interested parties may submit comments (subject to an 18-page limit) by April 24, 2026. To the extent the issues of concern merit more time for further analysis, it will be important to stress that point as well in any comments.