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EU checking if Microsoft’s OpenAI investment falls under merger rules
The European Union is checking whether Microsoft's investment in generative AI giant OpenAI is reviewable under the bloc's merger regulations, it said The European Union is checking whether Microsoft's investment in generative AI giant OpenAI is reviewable under the bloc's merger regulations.
The Commission’s announcement today that it’s putting an eye on the arrangement coincides with it making two calls for contributions on competition — one focused on generative AI the other on virtual worlds — so it’s looking to build up its knowledge of goings on in these cutting edge markets. And while Microsoft has been designated a gatekeeper under the DMA it’s for its Windows OS (aka, a so-called “core platform service”), not for its cloud infrastructure — yet it’s the latter which the tech giant is leveraging to gain a strategic competitive edge in the fast unfolding generative AI market via its cosy partnership with OpenAI. That said, carefully structured deals and cooperations between tech giants and AI startups are likely to have been designed to avoid this lever being pulled and it remains to be seen whether the EU will deem it has powers under merger laws to step in and scrutinze the detail of the commercial love-in between Microsoft and OpenAI.
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