Microsoft, ChatGPT maker OpenAI may have ‘bad news’ in Europe – Times of India

Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI may be investigated by regulators in the European Union (EU) for potential antitrust violations, a report has said. This comes after increased scrutiny of similar deals by other tech giants.
Citing people familiar with the matter, news agency Reuters reported that the focus of the investigation wouldn’t be on the initial formation of the partnership, but rather on whether it might limit competition within the EU market.
The report noted that the EU antitrust regulator has decided not to investigate the partnership under EU merger rules but may still look “into whether the partnership restricts or distorts competition within the EU internal market or whether Microsoft’s market power distorts the market through certain practices.”
The European Commission is leaning towards the second angle, one of the people was cited as saying. It added that no decision has been taken as the competition enforcer is looking for evidence and may eventually decide not to open an investigation.
“In this respect, it is however important to underline that in order to look into potential competition concerns, the Commission first needs to conclude that there has been a change of control on a lasting basis,” a spokesperson was quoted as saying

Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI

Microsoft invested billions into OpenAI and has been integrating the company’s AI-powered tools into its products and service. Microsoft also has a non-voting position on the OpenAI board and says it does not own any portion of the AI company.
OpenAI recently announced that GPT-4 Turbo is available for all paid ChatGPT users.