2024-01-09 12:14:56
Microsoft’s financial support for OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, could be subject to EU merger rules, EU antitrust regulators said on Tuesday, highlighting a similar warning from its British counterpart in December. The US software giant, which last year committed to investing more than $10 billion in OpenAI through a non-voting board position, said it owns no stake in OpenAI. OpenAI.
The European Commission has previously said it is closely monitoring developments.
“The European Commission is verifying whether Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI may be subject to review under the EU Merger Regulation,” said the EU executive, which acts as EU competition regulator, in a press release.
He added that some deals between large digital market players and generative AI developers and providers were being investigated to determine their impact on market dynamics. He did not name the companies involved.
On Tuesday, the Commission also gave interested parties until March 11 to submit their comments on competition in virtual worlds and generative artificial intelligence.
She also sent requests for information to several large digital companies on both topics.
“We invite companies and experts to tell us about any competition concerns they may perceive in these sectors, while closely monitoring artificial intelligence partnerships to ensure they do not distort “unduly market dynamics,” said Margrethe Vestager, head of the EU’s antitrust service. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Louise Heavens)
1704803248
#Microsofts #investment #OpenAI #risks #merger #investigation #regulators #January #p.m