The European Union's antitrust regulator said on Tuesday that Microsoft's financial support for OpenAI, the developer of the AI chatbot ChatGPT, may be subject to EU merger and acquisition regulations. Last year, Microsoft pledged to invest more than $10 billion in OpenAI but would not receive voting rights. Microsoft also said it does not own any shares in OpenAI.
Today, the European Commission said in a statement: "We are assessing whether Microsoft's investment in OpenAI can be reviewed under EU merger regulations."
The European Commission also said it was investigating the impact on market dynamics of some agreements between large digital market players and generative AI developers and providers, without naming the companies.
At the same time, the European Commission also wants interested parties to provide feedback on competition in the fields of VR/AR and generative AI before March 11. Relevant information requests have also been issued to several large digital companies.
EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: “We invite companies and experts to brief us on any competition issues they may find in these industries, and we also pay close attention to cooperation in the field of AI to ensure that they do not unduly distort market competition.”