Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia face increased antitrust scrutiny for their roles in the artificial intelligence industry after a report that US regulators reached a deal to investigate the companies.
The New York Times reported that the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have reached an agreement on investigations of the main players in the AI market. The deal is expected to be completed in the coming days, according to the report.
The Justice Department will lead the investigation into whether Nvidia, the leading maker of chips that train and operate artificial intelligence systems, has violated antitrust laws that oversee fair competition in business and aim to prevent monopolies, the Department said. NYT on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the FTC will examine OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot, and Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor and a major financial backer of other AI companies.
The Wall Street Journal also reported on Thursday that the FTC is investigating whether Microsoft structured a recent deal with startup Inflection AI to avoid an antitrust investigation.
In March, Microsoft hired Inflection CEO and co-founder, British entrepreneur Mustafa Suleyman, as head of a new AI division and agreed to pay his company $650 million (£508 million) to license its AI software.
The FTC has already shown interest in the AI market. In January, it ordered OpenAI, Google owner Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and startup Anthropic to provide information on recent investments and partnerships involving generative AI companies and cloud service providers.
Last year, it opened an investigation into OpenAI over allegations that it had broken consumer protection laws by putting reputations and personal data at risk.
The head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, Jonathan Kanter, told the Financial Times on Thursday that the organization would “urgently” examine the AI sector and examine “monopoly choke points and the competitive landscape” in the technology.
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Kanter said regulators must act quickly to ensure that powerful tech companies do not control the market.
The FTC, Department of Justice, Nvidia, OpenAI and Microsoft have been contacted for comment.
