The EU is continuing to examine the impact of the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, on competition in the booming artificial intelligence (AI) market, despite the termination of an initial procedure, the European Commission said on Friday.
The European Competition watchdog announced in January that it would check whether the American tech giant’s $13 billion investment in the pioneer of generative AI could be subject to examination under the EU Merger Regulation.
He finally announced on Friday that he could not establish Microsoft’s control over OpenAI.
“The key question was whether Microsoft had acquired lasting control over OpenAI. After careful examination… We concluded that, as it stood, this was not the case,” said the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager.
“So we are closing this chapter. But the story is not over,” she explained during a speech in Brussels.
The EU has requested new information from Microsoft on the agreement between the two companies “to understand whether certain exclusivity clauses could have a negative effect on competition,” Vestager said.
US and UK regulators are also examining the partnership, amid growing concern over the domination of the crucial AI market by a handful of digital giants.
Vestager said the EU had also requested information about Google’s agreement with Samsung to pre-install a version of its AI system, Gemini, on some devices made by the South Korean giant.
Brussels would also like to examine the impact of corporate takeovers carried out with the sole aim of capturing key skills.
Microsoft has welcomed the conclusion of the first EU procedure on its partnership with OpenAI.
“We appreciate the European Commission’s thorough review and its conclusion that Microsoft’s investment and partnership with OpenAI do not give Microsoft control of the company,” a spokesperson for the group said.
“We are ready to answer any additional questions the European Commission may have,” he added.
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