July 01, 2024 – The European Union is gearing up for a potential antitrust investigation into the artificial intelligence dealings and collaborations between Microsoft and OpenAI, as well as Google and Samsung, as regulators have identified “exclusive” clauses within their agreements.
According to a report by Reuters, Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Competition, indicated last Friday that the EU antitrust watchdog would seek input from more third parties. “We have reviewed the responses and are now sending follow-up requests for information on the agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI, to understand if certain exclusive clauses could negatively impact competitors,” Vestager stated.
This move underscores the global regulators’ unease regarding large technology companies leveraging their advantages to venture into new technological domains. Vestager dispatched questionnaires regarding AI partnerships to major tech firms including Microsoft, Google, Facebook, TikTok, and others in March this year.
Additionally, Vestager mentioned, “We are also requesting information to better comprehend the implications of the arrangement between Google and Samsung to preload Gemini Nano (Google’s Gemini model for mobile devices) on certain Samsung devices.”
Earlier this year in January, Google forged a multi-year agreement with Samsung to integrate its generative AI technology into the Samsung Galaxy S24 smartphone series.
Vestager also disclosed that she is currently probing into “acqui-hires,” a practice where a company acquires another primarily to acquire its talent. Microsoft’s acquisition of the startup Inflection for $650 million in March serves as an example, as it allowed Microsoft to utilize Inflection’s models and hire most of its employees.
