The inseparable Microsoft-OpenAI tandem raises questions among political decision-makers. The British market regulator wants to know how far Microsoft’s influence extends. Is Microsoft threatened with a new antitrust dispute?

The British market authority CMA is considering an investigation into the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI. Microsoft owns 49 percent of OpenAI shares thanks to its generous investments, but the agency has questions about “recent developments,” the announcement said. The failed takeover at the top of OpenAI could therefore continue.

In November, Sam Altman unexpectedly resigned from his position as CEO of OpenAI, only to be reinstated in the position a few days ago. The board that had orchestrated the coup in turn had to leave and a new board was formed. Microsoft has a seat on the newly formed board, which might give the impression that Microsoft’s influence extends beyond what officially appears on paper.

Fusion or not?

CMA will examine whether the collaboration between Microsoft and OpenAI qualifies as a merger and how it would change the dynamics of the AI ​​market. Thanks to OpenAI technology, Microsoft has become a dominant player in generative AI. A full merger between OpenAI and Microsoft could make it more difficult for other companies to access AI models.

To be clear, the agency has not come to this conclusion yet, these are some theories that now need to be thoroughly tested. The research also fits into a broader market study on the impact of LLMs. The agency will report its initial findings in March 2024, although it is not yet clear whether Microsoft’s investigation will be discussed at that time.

“Microsoft restricts freedom”

The name Microsoft appears in several files on the CMA desk. As part of another ongoing investigation into the cloud industry, the agency received a high-profile swipe from AWS. AWS doesn’t mince words and says that Microsoft is “restricting the choice and freedom of cloud users.”

It points to certain licensing terms that Microsoft applies that would make running Microsoft services significantly more expensive on competing cloud platforms such as AWS. In this way, customers are financially pressured to purchase Microsoft’s entire cloud package. AWS is open to supporting Microsoft’s cloud services on its own infrastructure, but will receive a lot of thanks in return, it says in summary.

It’s no news that AWS and Microsoft management won’t be drinking beer together any time soon. According to sources, AWS is also the silent force behind antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft. The game is played hard in the cloud industry.