Our People » Max von Thun
Max von Thun is the Director of Europe & Transatlantic Partnerships at the Open Markets Institute. He leads Open Markets’ research and advocacy in Europe alongside efforts to bring about greater alignment in transatlantic anti-monopoly policy and enforcement.
Von Thun’s work touches on a range of antitrust and competition issues in Europe, with a particular focus on technology and new legislative frameworks targeting Big Tech’s market power. Prior to joining Open Markets, von Thun advised UK Parliamentarians on economic policy, led the research program at think-tank the Centre for Entrepreneurs, and worked as a consultant on EU and UK technology and competition policy. He has written influential reports on a range of topics including AI regulation, the future of work, wealth taxation and small business policy. Von Thun’s writing has appeared in publications including the Guardian, the Times, Tech Policy Press and Euractiv. He is regularly quoted as an expert on European competition and technology issues in the media, including Politico, Reuters, Bloomberg, Wired and Time.
Von Thun holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and philosophy from the University of Southern California, and a master’s in international public policy from University College London. He originally hails from London, but these days calls Brussels home.
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”.
Open Markets Institute, alongside partner organisations Article 19, the Balanced Economy Project and SOMO, made a detailed submission to the European Commission urging officials to open an in-depth investigation into Google’s proposed acquisition of the cloud security firm Wiz.
Open Markets Institute helped craft a letter with more than 70 press freedom organisations, businesses, experts, and think tanks urging the European Commission to reject Google’s proposed remedies in the adtech antitrust case.
Europe director Max von Thun spotlights the EU’s new antitrust investigations into Google and Meta mark a crucial step toward preventing Big Tech from using its platform power to dominate AI, exploit creators, and undermine competition and democratic access to information.
Europe director Max von Thun argues that Europe’s response to Trump-era pressure on digital regulation must combine tough enforcement against Big Tech with major investment in homegrown technology, warning that efforts to weaken landmark laws like the AI Act and GDPR threaten European sovereignty and democratic security.
Europe director Max von Thun briefed in a testimony the European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee on Europe’s deep dependence on U.S. cloud giants, urging lawmakers to use existing regulatory tools to open the market and ensure Europe can build sovereign, resilient cloud and AI infrastructure.
Open Markets welcomes the European Commission’s three market investigations on cloud computing services under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
In a statement from Max von Thun, Open Markets condemns Google’s insufficient remedies, proposed in the EU, regarding its conflicts of interests in the adtech stack.