LONDON (AP) — The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced Wednesday that it has concluded its review of Microsoft’s collaboration with OpenAI, determining that the agreement does not warrant a more in-depth examination under the nation’s merger regulations.
The CMA stated that, based on the “available evidence,” the partnership between the American technology corporation and the creator of ChatGPT does not satisfy the criteria for a merger investigation. “Specifically, the CMA does not believe that Microsoft has transitioned from significant influence to de facto control over OpenAI,” the watchdog stated.
Microsoft provided substantial initial backing to OpenAI, investing billions of dollars in the San Francisco-based startup from its inception. However, OpenAI has since garnered investment from other major players, including Softbank of Japan and chip manufacturer Nvidia, following the success of ChatGPT.
The CMA has been increasing its oversight of AI transactions amid a surge of investment from prominent technology companies into startups focused on generative artificial intelligence. Last year, it approved another Microsoft arrangement involving Inflection AI, as well as partnerships between chatbot developer Anthropic and both Google and Amazon.
