Microsoft-OpenAI deal escapes EU probe, but comes under scrutiny elsewhere

European Union antitrust regulators have concluded Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI is not an acquisition, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, suggesting the deal would avoid a formal European investigation that would have faced onerous remedial measures against the U.S. tech giant.

EU regulators said in January that the deal may be subject to the region’s merger rules. Microsoft, which has no voting rights on OpenAI’s board of directors, said late last year that it did not own any shares in the ChatGPT maker.

But Microsoft is not out of the woods yet, with EU competition enforcers still examining partnerships between large digital market players and generative AI developers and providers, which could lead to an intrusive and lengthy investigation into their market power.

“The European Commission has been closely monitoring OpenAI’s controls ahead of recent incidents involving OpenAI’s management,” an EU spokesperson said in an email to Reuters.

“We are examining whether Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI can be reviewed under EU merger regulations.”

Microsoft declined to comment, while OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI has also come under informal scrutiny elsewhere.

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority is considering whether to launch an investigation to determine whether the deal affects competition between British companies, while the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are reportedly considering investigations.

To avoid such investigations, Microsoft is actively seeking partnerships with other artificial intelligence companies. Earlier this year, it announced a deal with French startup Mistral AI.

Bloomberg News first reported the development on Wednesday.

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