The FTC is also investigating Microsoft's $650 million deal with AI startup Inflection AI over potential merger disclosure requirement violations. This follows the FTC's order in January for OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Anthropic to provide information on recent investments and partnerships involving generative AI companies and cloud service providers. The agreement between the two agencies indicates increasing regulatory scrutiny in the AI sector.
Key takeaways:
- The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have agreed to proceed with antitrust investigations into Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia's roles in the artificial intelligence industry.
- The Department of Justice will investigate Nvidia, while the FTC will examine OpenAI and Microsoft. The FTC is also investigating Microsoft's $650 million deal with AI startup Inflection AI.
- Nvidia, which dominates about 80% of the AI chip market, and Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion in a for-profit subsidiary of OpenAI, are under scrutiny for their market dominance.
- This regulatory scrutiny comes amid concerns over concentration in the industries that make up AI, with dominant firms potentially having a substantial advantage due to their access to large amounts of data and computing power.