FTC to Investigate Major AI Players Over Significant Investments and Partnerships
Summary:
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced an investigation into major AI players like Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Anthropic, and OpenAI over their substantial investments and partnerships in the AI industry. The FTC will probe the implications of these businesses' strategic dealings with generative AI companies and major cloud service providers. The inquiry intends to look at the competitive dynamics of necessary resources for AI, and will include information shared with foreign and domestic government agencies related to these matters. These developments follow the UK's antitrust authority's consideration of investigating Microsoft's significant partnership with OpenAI and the European Commission's intent to examine Microsoft’s OpenAI investment under the EU Merger Regulation.
In light of recent investments and partnerships, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced its decision to probe significant participants in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry such as Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Anthropic, and OpenAI. As of January 25, the agency stated it had dispatched requirements to these five corporations, demanding them to share specifics pertaining to their dealings with generative AI entities and prime cloud service companies, as well as their strategic motives behind them. The FTC has targeted these exorbitant investment ventures, including Microsoft and OpenAI, Amazon and Anthropic, and Google and Anthropic.
The FTC Chair, Lina Khan, noted during a tech summit organized by the commission that these issued requirements signify a "market investigation into the liaison and agreements being established between AI creators and principal cloud service providers." The practices employed by businesses to utilize and develop AI involve forging collaborations and direct investments in AI developers for the acquisition of pivotal technologies required for AI creation. The agency is set to deploy its power to conduct a 6(b) examination, allowing it to examine the AI firms separately from its law enforcement branch and provide civil investigative needs. This enables the commission to mandate corporations to render specific reports and responses to queries regarding their operations.
Other critical factors of interest to the FTC include the effect of the aforementioned associations on competition for AI resources and inputs, including the competitive dynamics surrounding essential services and goods necessary for generative AI. Further information shared with other government agencies, foreign or domestic, about the investigations, information requests, or other inquiries pertaining to these subject matters is also sought after by the commission.
In a similar vein, the UK's antitrust authority is mulling over initiating an inquiry into the significant partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI. Microsoft responded by clarifying its non-voting observer position on the board of ChatGPT creators. Additionally, the European Commission is considering investigating Microsoft’s OpenAI investment under the EU Merger Regulation.
Published At
1/26/2024 10:50:56 AM
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