Microsoft gives up observation seat on the OpenAI Council
- July 10, 2024
- 0
Microsoft is giving up its monitoring role on OpenAI’s board and Apple is no longer interested in taking on a similar role. Both companies are under strict scrutiny
Microsoft is giving up its monitoring role on OpenAI’s board and Apple is no longer interested in taking on a similar role. Both companies are under strict scrutiny
Microsoft is giving up its monitoring role on OpenAI’s board and Apple is no longer interested in taking on a similar role. Both companies are under strict scrutiny from competition authorities around the world.
Microsoft is giving up its observer seat on OpenAI’s board. The company gained that position late last year following a soap opera surrounding OpenAI’s leadership, where co-founder and CEO Sam Altman was unexpectedly sidelined, sparking a game of musical chairs. Ultimately, Altman was reinstated on his throne and OpenAI was restructured. In that restructuring, major investor Microsoft acquired its position.
Redmond is now forced to give up his role. Apple would gain a similar observation position on the board, but has now decided against it. This is a direct result of the antitrust investigations conducted in the EU and the US against both Microsoft and Apple.
The tech giants are being targeted due to their market consolidation in various sectors, which makes fair competition difficult. For example, the European Commission has been investigating the relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft since January.
Officially, OpenAI is an independent company. However, Microsoft is by far the largest investor and has enabled the company’s breakthrough by providing cash and infrastructure. The EU wonders whether this relationship has made the collaboration exclusive after all.
By resigning from the board, Microsoft hopes to avoid an investigation. Apple is under fire in the EU for failing to comply with the DMA and probably does not want to further alienate regulators.
Source: IT Daily
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