EU targets large AI partnerships

EU antitrust regulators are investigating major AI tech partnerships Microsoft-OpenAI and Google-Samsung. The AI ​​deal between Microsoft-OpenAI and Google-Samsung has come under scrutiny over concerns about exclusivity clauses.

This significant development highlights the discomfort among global regulators as tech giants continue to dominate the market as new technologies emerge across industries.

EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said the collaboration between Microsoft and OpenAI did not need to fall under EU merger rules due to a lack of scrutiny.

Vestager also expressed concerns that tech giants are preventing small AI companies from reaching users due to their dominant position in the AI ​​market.

EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager has sent questionnaires to tech giants Google, Meta’s Facebook and ByteDance’s TikTok, as well as other major tech players, about their cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence.

“We have reviewed the responses and are now sending out a request for information on the agreement between Microsoft and . To understand whether certain exclusivity clauses could have a negative impact on competitors,” Margrethe Vestager said at the conference.

“We are also sending out requests for information to better understand the implications of Google’s agreement with Samsung to pre-install the small Gemini Nano model on some Samsung devices,” said Margrethe Vestager.

As such, both Microsoft and have maintained their commitment to industry compliance while cautiously developing AI technologies. They have pointed to some of the possible benefits, such as those related to health development, sustainability, and other important aspects.

Microsoft and OpenAI have a multi-million dollar partnership that began in 2019, and has grown over time, with Microsoft making significant investments in OpenAI, providing cloud computing capabilities through its Azure platform, and integrating advanced OpenAI models into its products and services.

Indicating that the EU would try another approach to investigating , Margrethe Vestager said: “Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI over the years. But we need to make sure that partnerships like this do not become a camouflage for one partner to gain dominant influence over the other.”

In January, Google struck a long-term deal with the South Korean company to integrate its advanced AI technology into the Samsung Galaxy S24.

The EU is shaping the future of responsible technology governance and the market dominance of big technology companies, maintaining a balance between progress and the need for market competition and the protection of consumer interests.