2024-01-09 20:10:35
© Reuters. OpenAI logo 01/08/2024 REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Por Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:) financial support for ChatGPT maker OpenAI may be subject to European Union merger rules, EU antitrust regulators said on Tuesday, reiterating a similar warning by another area body in the United Kingdom, in December.
The US software giant, which last year committed to investing more than $10 billion in OpenAI with a non-voting board position, said it does not own any shares in OpenAI.
The European Commission had already said it was closely following developments.
“The European Commission is checking whether Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI can be reviewed under the EU Merger Regulation,” the European Union’s competition watchdog said in a statement.
The statement further indicated that some agreements between major digital market participants and creators and suppliers of generative AI were being investigated for their impact on market dynamics. The companies were not named.
The European Commission also gave interested parties until March 11 to provide feedback on competition in virtual worlds and generative artificial intelligence.
In addition, it sent requests for information to several large digital companies on both topics.
“We are inviting companies and experts to inform us about any competition issues they may notice in these industries, while closely monitoring AI partnerships to ensure they do not unduly distort market dynamics,” said the EU antitrust chief , Margrethe Vestager.
(Reportagem de Foo Yun Chee)
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