Written by Fu Yun Chi
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI could face an EU antitrust investigation as regulators build the case for such a move, the company said on Tuesday. a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership, along with those with Alphabet, Amazon, and Anthropic, has drawn intense scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic as antitrust enforcement officials seek to understand how these deals affect competition. is causing the eyes.
European Union antitrust regulators have decided not to investigate the partnership under EU merger rules, but Microsoft could still face an antitrust investigation, the people said.
This could lead to an investigation into whether the partnership restricts or distorts competition within the EU’s internal market, or whether Microsoft’s market power distorts the market through certain practices.
The European Commission is leaning towards the second angle, one of the people said.
No decision has yet been made as the EU’s competition enforcement authorities are looking for evidence and could ultimately decide not to release it, the people said.
Microsoft has no voting rights on the OpenAI board, but says it does not own any part of the ChatGPT maker.
The European Commission did not comment on the broader antitrust situation. It said it is checking whether Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI can be reviewed under EU merger regulations.
“In this regard, however, it is important to emphasize that in order to investigate potential competition concerns, the Commission must first conclude that there has been a permanent change of control.” A spokesperson declined to comment further.
(Reporting by Fu Yun Qi; Editing by Barbara Lewis)
