Microsoft’s OpenAI Investment Does Not Violate Competition, UK Antitrust Authority Rules

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved a $13 billion investment deal between Microsoft and OpenAI, ending a 14-month period of uncertainty over antitrust scrutiny. According to Bloomberg, the agency concluded that the deal does not fall under mergers and acquisitions rules, meaning it does not require in-depth investigation.

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During the investigation, the regulator examined whether the partnerships strengthened one company’s control over the other. However, following the investigation, the CMA stated that “while Microsoft gained significant influence over OpenAI as early as 2019, there was no change in control.” At the same time, in the US, the Federal Trade Commission previously expressed concern that the partnership with OpenAI could strengthen Microsoft’s dominance in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The FTC’s investigation is not yet complete.

According to some experts, the deal with OpenAI gave Microsoft a competitive advantage over other tech giants, allowing it to integrate AI developments into many of the company’s key products. Against this background, in 2023, Microsoft and Apple gave up their seats on the OpenAI board of directors, thereby responding to growing pressure from regulators.

It is worth noting that the review took a long time. The CMA’s chief executive of mergers, Joel Bamford, acknowledged that the investigation had been too long, but he said that this was due to the complexity of the partnership and the constant changes to its structure.

The review of the Microsoft-OpenAI deal was part of a global effort by antitrust authorities to prevent excessive concentration of power in the AI ​​sector. However, OpenAI believes that it is focused on developing safe and useful AI, while Microsoft emphasized that the partnership, on the contrary, promotes competition in the market. The regulator also previously approved Google’s collaboration with AI developer Anthropic.