In December, the UK’s antitrust regulator announced that it is closely monitoring the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, and whether the developments regarding sacking and hiring of Sam Altman as the latter’s CEO has resulted in a relevant merger situation that may impact the competition in the UK. A month later, Microsoft financial backing for the ChatGPT maker may be subject to the European Union’s (EU’s) merger rules.
The EU is concerned about the competitiveness of virtual worlds and generative AI markets, and is worried that Microsoft’s investment could give it too much control over these markets. Notably, Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and has integrated its AI technology into some of its products, including Windows 11, its browser Edge and Bing search engine.
“We are inviting businesses and experts to tell us about any competition issues…
