The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have made a groundbreaking deal to proceed with antitrust investigations into the dominant roles of Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia in the artificial intelligence industry, according to a report by the New York Times.
The deal stipulates that the U.S. Department of Justice will lead the investigation into whether Nvidia violated antitrust laws, while the FTC will focus on the conduct of OpenAI and Microsoft. This move comes as Microsoft has invested $13 billion in a for-profit subsidiary of OpenAI, holding a 49% stake.
Regulators in other regions are also informally scrutinizing the Microsoft-OpenAI partnership. The agreement between the Justice Department and the FTC was reached in the past week and is expected to be finalized in the coming days.
The FTC is reportedly looking into Microsoft’s $650 million deal with AI startup Inflection AI, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. This increased regulatory scrutiny reflects a growing concern over the power and influence of tech giants in the AI industry.
U.S. antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter recently highlighted the potential risks of AI technology, emphasizing the advantage it gives to already-dominant firms. The FTC had previously ordered several tech companies, including OpenAI and Microsoft, to provide information on their recent investments and partnerships involving generative AI companies and cloud service providers.
Microsoft, OpenAI, Nvidia, the Justice Department, and the FTC have not yet commented on the matter. Stay tuned for further updates on this developing story.