Written by Fu Yun Qi and Yuvraj Malik
(Reuters) – The European Union’s antitrust regulator has concluded that Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI is not an acquisition, sources said on Wednesday, adding that the deal would make the U.S. technology company’s It has been suggested the giant may avoid a formal European investigation that could lead to a onerous bailout.
Spokespeople for Microsoft, Open AI and the European Commission did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
EU regulators said in January that the deal could be subject to the region’s merger rules. Microsoft, which has no voting rights on the OpenAI board, said late last year that it no longer owns any part of the ChatGPT maker.
However, Microsoft is not out of the woods yet, with EU competition enforcement authorities still considering partnerships with large digital market participants and generative AI developers and providers, which could lead to intrusive and long-term challenges to market power. This may lead to an investigation.
Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI has come under unofficial scrutiny in other regions as well.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority is considering whether to launch an investigation into whether the deal affects competition between UK companies, and the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are also reportedly considering investigating. ing.
To avoid such investigations, Microsoft is actively seeking partnerships with other AI companies. Earlier this year, it announced an agreement with French startup Mistral AI.
Bloomberg News first reported the development on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru and Fu Yun Qi in Brussels; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Shailesh Kuber)
