Microsoft may have to face an investigation into its current relationship with OpenAI again. A new report released by Bloomberg through unnamed *** said that the US Federal ** Commission is investigating the current financial partnership between the two companies and whether it may violate US antitrust laws.
According to the report, the federal commission's investigation into the relationship is preliminary. So far, the agency has not opened a formal investigation into Microsoft and OpenAI.
The story comes just hours after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority officially announced that it would hear from both companies and third parties before launching a possible investigation into Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority said it wanted to know if Microsoft's deal with OpenAI had affected competition in the country's AI space. In response, Microsoft said that its partnership with OpenAI has generated competition in the field of artificial intelligence"At the same time, the independence of the two companies is maintained"。
Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI since 2019, although it is not a major investor in the generative AI startup. A few weeks ago, OpenAI reinstated CEO Sam Altman days after the old board fired him, and the new board introduced Microsoft as a non-voting board member.
Of course, Microsoft and the Federal Commission (FTC) have been in a long battle over another matter. The agency has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in an attempt to block the company's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. However, the U.S. Federal Commission failed to convince a judge to set a preliminary injunction to block the acquisition, which allowed Microsoft to complete the deal to buy the game publisher in October.
Earlier this week, before three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit before Microsoft and the U.S. Federal ** Commission, which again tried to claim that Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard was a threat to competition, and that the previous judge's ruling was wrong. It is not yet known when the judges will rule on the case.