Hu Yun Qi
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union's competition authority will seek further third-party opinions on Microsoft's (NASDAQ:) partnership with OpenAI and Google's (NASDAQ:) artificial intelligence (AI) deal with Samsung (KS:), EU competition authority chief Margrethe Vestager said on Friday.
The move could lead to investigations and sanctions and highlights regulators' concerns around the world about big tech companies trying to leverage their advantages into new technologies.
Vestager sent out a survey in March to major tech companies, including Microsoft, Google, Meta's Facebook (NASDAQ:) and ByteDance's TikTok, about AI partnerships.
“We are reviewing the response and are currently requesting additional information about Microsoft's OpenAI agreement to understand whether certain exclusivity clauses may have an adverse effect on competitors,” she said at the conference.
Reuters first reported that EU regulators were preparing a case that could lead to an investigation into the companies' partnership.
Vestager said the European Commission, which acts as the EU's competition enforcer, will not investigate Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI under EU merger rules because Microsoft has not gained control over OpenAI.
OpenAI's parent company is a non-profit, but Microsoft has invested $13 billion in the for-profit subsidiary for a 49% stake.
Vestager also raised concerns that big tech companies' partnerships with AI could make it harder for smaller AI developers to connect with users.
“We are also requesting information to better understand the impact of an arrangement between Google and Samsung to pre-install Google's smaller Gemini Nano phone on certain Samsung devices,” she said.
In January, Google signed a multiyear deal with the South Korean company to incorporate its generative artificial intelligence technology into Samsung's Galaxy S24 series of smartphones.
Vestager said the company is also looking into “hiring by acquisition,” in which companies buy other companies primarily for talent — a case in point was Microsoft's purchase of startup Inflection Inc. for $650 million in March, when it was able to use Inflection's model to hire most of its staff.
