Microsoft Corp.’s $13 billion investment into OpenAI Inc. is set to come under added scrutiny from the European Union’s antitrust body. The EU will quiz rivals about the AI firm’s exclusive use of Microsoft’s cloud technology and has therefore ruled out an investigation under the EU’s merger rules into the deal.
The bloc’s antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, has announced Friday that the EU has ruled out an investigation under the EU’s merger rules into the deal. Instead, she announced that regulators are asking Microsoft’s rivals about the US company’s exclusivity clauses with OpenAI, and whether they might have a negative effect on competition.
The EU will also circulate questions to the market on Google’s arrangement with Samsung Electronics Co. to pre-install its small model “Gemini nano” on certain devices.
Vestager added in her speech that regulators are examining attempts by Big Tech to buy firms by way of mass hires. The EU preliminary step comes after the US Federal Trade Commission launched investigations into Microsoft’s hiring of Inflection staff.
“We will make sure these practices don’t slip through our merger control rules if they basically lead to a concentration,” Vestager said.
Under the terms of Microsoft’s arrangement with OpenAI, Microsoft’s Azure is the exclusive cloud provider for OpenAI; this is something that EU regulators want to examine more.
See What’s Next in Tech With the Fast Forward Newsletter
Tweets From @varindiamag
Nothing to see here - yet
When they Tweet, their Tweets will show up here.
