Our People » Max von Thun
Max von Thun is the Director of Open Markets Institute Europe. He leads Open Markets’ research and advocacy work in Europe, with a focus on identifying the policies needed to build an open, resilient, and democratic European economy.
Von Thun’s work touches on a range of competition and market power issues in Europe, with a particular emphasis on emerging technologies and new legislative frameworks targeting dominant technology platforms. Prior to joining Open Markets, von Thun advised UK parliamentarians on economic policy, led the research program at the Centre for Entrepreneurs, and advised businesses on EU and UK technology and competition policy. He has written influential reports on a range of topics, including AI governance, cloud computing, digital sovereignty, the future of work, and land taxation. His writing has appeared in publications including The Guardian, Financial Times, Tech Policy Press, and Euractiv. He is regularly cited on European competition and technology issues in the media, including by Politico, Reuters, Bloomberg, Wired, and Time.
Von Thun holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Philosophy from the University of Southern California, a Master of Science in International Public Policy from University College London, and a Postgraduate Diploma in EU Competition Law from King’s College London. He originally hails from London but now calls Brussels home.
In this issue, we explore Sen. Klobuchar’s bill to bolster the Tunney Act following a series of weak antitrust settlements that were driven by President Trump’s cozy relationships with corporations.
The Open Markets Institute Europe warns that the Commission is failing to seize the full potential of the DMA to address harmful abuses of market power by digital gatekeepers.
In this issue, we explore how last week’s jury verdict against Ticketmaster marks a win for both democracy and for consumers.
The Open Markets Institute shares its news of expanding its European operations with new staff and the launch of a European Advisory Council – bringing together leading experts, technologists and former policymakers to defend fair markets and democratic accountability.
Open Markets' Europe director, Max von Thun, and industrial policy program manager, Audrey Stienon, discuss in Competition Policy International's TechREG Chronicle how AI policy narratives framed around the goal of "winning" a global race threaten to undermine the democratic values that this technology is supposed to help defend. Instead, von Thun and Stienon present a vision for an industrial strategy for AI centered on democratic governance as a means of protecting the public interest.
Open Markets Europe director Max von Thun argued in this co-written article that Europe has an opportunity to counter concentrated tech power and assert global economic leadership by aligning digital markets with democratic values and deeper economic integration
The Open Markets Institute, Open Markets Institute Europe and Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets were deeply grateful for the opportunity to participate in the 2025 Proton Lifetime Charity Fundraiser, organized by the Proton Foundation.
The Open Markets Institute published a blueprint for Europe’s transition towards an open, competitive, and sovereign cloud market, co-authored by Europe director Max von Thun and EU tech policy fellow George Colville.
The European Commission announced a preliminary finding that Meta may have abused its dominant position by excluding third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp. The Commission intends to impose interim measures to prevent serious and irreparable damage to competition. Such measures could include Meta being forced to open WhatsApp to third-party AI assistants. Max von Thun, Director of Europe & Transatlantic Partnerships at the Open Markets Institute, released a following statement.
The Open Markets Institute released a statement led by Max von Thun, Director of Europe & Transatlantic Partnership a preliminary finding that TikTok’s platform design contributes to addictive use and may violate the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) requiring TikTok to fundamentally change to its business model, including disabling addictive features such as “infinite scroll”.