Why Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia are facing anti-monopoly probes
Al Jazeera
US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are seeking to root out anti-competitive practices in field of AI.
The United States Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have reportedly reached a deal on how they will pursue an antitrust investigation into tech giants Microsoft, Nvidia, and Open AI.
The companies are all major players in generative AI: OpenAI is the nonprofit startup behind ChatGPT, the blockbuster AI-powered chatbot. Microsoft, the world’s largest company by market capitalisation, has invested more than $13bn in OpenAI and holds a 49 percent stake in the company’s for-profit subsidiary.
Chipmaker Nvidia is a global leader in graphic processing units (GPU), a key piece of hardware needed in AI. The company recently hit a $3 trillion valuation, surpassing Apple to become the world’s second-largest company.
US authorities likely want to determine if the tech giants used anticompetitive means to dominate the burgeoning AI industry.
Under the terms of the deal, which was reported by multiple US media outlets, FTC will reportedly investigate Microsoft and Open AI, while the DOJ will probe Nvidia.
