Seminars

View all Seminars  |  Download ICal for this event

Towards a Theory of Equilibrium in Data Markets

Series: Bangalore Theory Seminars

Speaker: Bhaskar Ray Chaudhury, UIUC

Date/Time: Jan 06 16:00:00

Location: CSA Auditorium, (Room No. 104, Ground Floor)

Abstract:
The algorithmic study of market equilibria has been a cornerstone of economics and computation since its inception, with rich theories developed around equilibrium/ stability notions such as Nash, Stackelberg, and Competitive Equilibria. In this talk, I explore how these classical concepts extend-or fail to extend-to a new and increasingly central economy: the data economy.

With the increasing integration of AI-ML technologies in the industry, data has emerged as one of the most valuable assets of the 21st century. However, unlike traditional goods, data is non-rival-it can be freely duplicated and shared without depletion. This fundamental property challenges standard equilibrium frameworks that assume scarcity (limited supply) and exclusivity (no two agents can simultaneously benefit from a resource).

We introduce a formal model of data markets, explicitly capturing (1) the role of data in improving predictive performance as data buyers utility functions, and (2) the implications of datas non-rival nature for equilibrium concepts. Building on this model, we examine the existence, geometry, and computational aspects of various equilibrium notions, highlighting key parallels and departures from traditional markets.

The talk will begin with a brief tutorial on equilibrium concepts-no prior background required-and conclude with open problems and emerging directions for the theory and design of data-markets.


Microsoft teams link:

Link

We are grateful to the Kirani family (Link and the Walmart Center for Tech Excellence (Link for generously supporting this seminar series


Hosts: Rameesh Paul, Nirjhar Das, KVN Sreenivas, Debajyoti Kar, Rahul Madhavan