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EU
antitrust regulators will seek additional third-party views, EU
competition chief Margrethe Vestager said on Friday.
The moves underscore the unease among regulators worldwide on
Big Tech leveraging its dominance into the new technology,
echoing the companies' market power in other sectors.
Vestager in March sent questionnaires to Microsoft, Google,
Meta's Facebook and ByteDance's TikTok as well as other big tech
companies related to their AI partnerships.
"We have reviewed the replies, and are now sending a follow-up
request for information on the agreement between Microsoft and
OpenAI. To understand whether certain exclusivity clauses could
have a negative effect on competitors," she told a conference.
Reuters was first to report that EU regulators were building a
case that could lead to an investigation into the partnership
between the two companies.
"We stand ready to respond to any additional questions the
European Commission may have," a Microsoft spokesperson said.
Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI will not be subject to EU
merger rules because of the absence of control, Vestager said.
While OpenAI's parent is a nonprofit, Microsoft has invested $13
billion in a for-profit subsidiary, for what would be a 49%
stake.
Vestager also cited concerns about Big Tech blocking smaller AI
developers from reaching users and businesses.
"We are also sending requests for information to better
understand the effects of Google's arrangement with Samsung to
pre-install its small model Gemini Nano on certain Samsung
devices," she said.
Google in January reached a multi-year deal with the South
Korean company to embed its generative artificial intelligence
technology in Samsung's Galaxy S24 series smartphones.
Vestager also said she was looking into "acqui-hires," where one
company acquires another mainly for its talent, as exemplified
in Microsoft's $650-million acquisition of startup Inflection in
March that allowed it to use Inflection's models and hire most
of its staff.
"We will make sure these practices don't slip through our merger
control rules if they basically lead to a concentration," she
said.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Rod
Nickel)
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