Microsoft has reportedly avoided further investigation by the European Union. Earlier this year, the EU’s regulator, the European Commission, announced that it was privately investigating whether the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI could be considered a merger due to the close relationship between the two companies.
However, Bloomberg reported through anonymous sources that the European Commission has decided not to launch a formal investigation into the companies. We concluded that OpenAI is not controlled by Microsoft.
Microsoft had already invested billions in OpenAI before the company’s board of directors unexpectedly decided to fire co-founder and CEO Sam Altman in November 2023. Microsoft soon announced that it would hire Altman and other OpenAI members to form a new AI team at that time. company.
Eventually, those plans were scrapped when OpenAI’s board of directors resigned and Altman returned to lead the company just days after being fired. Soon after, OpenAI gave his Microsoft a non-voting position on its new board of directors. .
Microsoft and OpenAI may not face a merger investigation from the EU, but their partnership is being investigated by other regulators.
The Federal Trade Commission announced in January that it was investigating various investments and partnerships that technology companies are making in AI development, including Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI.
In December 2023, the UK Competition and Markets Authority announced that it was seeking comments from others to examine whether the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI “gave rise to a relevant merger situation”. No word on the situation. Results of an informal investigation since then.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is looking to expand its AI investments and partnerships beyond OpenAI. The company announced earlier this year that it had signed a multi-year deal with France-based Mistral AI, which reportedly included a small but unknown investment in the startup.
