In order to ascertain the consequences of these collusions on market dynamics
The European Commission, the European Union’s competition watchdog, announced today that it will investigate Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI, the company that pioneers genetic artificial intelligence.
The Commission is “examining whether Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI may be subject to review under the EU’s merger regulation,” the Commission’s statement said. The announcement comes as European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager will be in California on Thursday and Friday, where she will participate in an antitrust conference in Palo Alto and meet with the heads of US tech giants. .
In particular, he will have talks with the heads of Apple, Tim Cook and Google, Sudar Pisai, as well as with two high-ranking executives of OpenAI, the director of Technology Mira Murati and the director of Strategy Jason Kwon. “The European Commission is examining certain agreements that have been concluded between the important players of the digital market and the manufacturers and suppliers of genetic artificial intelligence” and in particular “it is studying the consequences of these partnerships on the dynamics of the market”, it is clarified in the Commission’s announcement.
Competition authorities are concerned about the risk that innovations in artificial intelligence will be monopolized by a limited number of digital giants that are already in a dominant position. In early December, the UK’s competition authority, the CMA, announced that it was reviewing the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI to see if it amounted to a merger. In this context, the CMA launched a call for comment “from interested parties and third parties”.
The European Commission has launched a similar process, announcing that it is launching “two calls for competitive contributions”, one on “digital worlds” and the other on “genetic artificial intelligence”. The Commission also announced that it has sent “information requests to several important players in the digital world”, explaining that it wants to gather views on how the right to compete can contribute to maintaining competition in these new markets.
After this check, the Commission states that it can organize a “workshop” during the second quarter of 2024 “so that the different opinions arising from these contributions can be gathered and this reflection can continue”.
