EU antitrust regulators scrutinize big tech AI partnerships of Microsoft-OpenAI and Google-Samsung partnership. The AI deal between Microsoft-OpenAI and Google-Samsung faced scrutiny due to concerns over exclusivity clauses.
This significant development brings to the fore the discomfort among global regulators as the tech giants continue to dominate the market through the emergence of new technologies in the industries.
EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said that the collaboration between Microsoft and OpenAI need not have to adhere to EU merger regulations due to the lack of control.
Vestager also raised concerns that the tech giants are preventing the small AI developers companies from reaching its users due to their dominance in the artificial intelligence market.
EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager distributed questionnaires to major tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, Meta's Facebook, and ByteDance's TikTok, as well as other significant players in the tech industry, regarding their collaborations in artificial intelligence.
"We have reviewed the replies, and are now sending a follow-up request for information on the agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI. To understand whether certain exclusivity clauses could a negative impact on competitors," Margrethe Vestager said in a conference.
"We are also sending requests for information to better understand the effects of Google's arrangement with Samsung to pre-install its small model Gemini Nano on certain Samsung devices," Margrethe Vestager said.
Consequently, both Microsoft and Google have maintained their commitment to comply with industry regulations while prudently developing AI technologies. They have pointed to some possible benefits of their AI technologies such as those concerning health development, sustainability and other important aspects.
A multi-million dollar partnership was formed between Microsoft and OpenAI. It was in 2019 that these two started collaborating and this has grown over time; in this collaboration, Microsoft has made substantial investments in OpenAI, provides cloud computing capabilities through its Azure platform, and integrates OpenAI’s advanced models into its products and services.
While indicating that the EU will try another way to scrutinize the AI agreement, Margrethe Vestager said, “Microsoft has invested US$13 billion in OpenAI over the years. But we have to make sure that partnerships like this do not become a disguise for one partner getting a controlling influence over the other.”
In January, Google struck a long-term agreement with a South Korean firm to integrate its advanced AI technology into the Samsung's Galaxy S24 model.
EU is shaping the future of responsible tech governance and the big tech companies dominance in the market by maintaining a balance between progress and the necessity for market competition and safeguarding consumer interests.