The FTC and DOJ have historically not investigated the same matter, but both agencies are keen to probe the Microsoft-OpenAI partnership. The FTC is already investigating OpenAI over potential unfair and deceptive practices, including consumer privacy issues. The DOJ has traditionally handled cases involving Microsoft. The jurisdictional split between the agencies is typically uncontested, but the lines can be blurred with large tech platforms that operate many different lines of business. The partnership has also attracted antitrust scrutiny in the UK and Europe.
Key takeaways:
- The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are in discussions over which agency has the jurisdiction to investigate OpenAI and its partnership with Microsoft on antitrust grounds.
- Microsoft has invested billions into OpenAI over the years and is integrating OpenAI's services into its core businesses, which has raised concerns about potential unfair advantages in the AI market.
- Both agencies are also monitoring the situation with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's rehiring by Microsoft, questioning the software giant's control over OpenAI.
- The FTC and DOJ are also involved in a separate debate over who can investigate companies for allegedly illegally scraping content from websites to train their AI models.