Washington:
The US Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday it has ordered OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Anthropic to provide information about recent investments and partnerships involving generic AI companies and cloud service providers.
Generative AI, which uses data to create new content like ChatGPT, has attracted the attention of lawmakers and regulators globally, concerned that it could be used to jeopardize national security, influence operations or conduct fraud. Can be done for convenience.
Deals between a small number of powerful players and Big Tech have raised antitrust concerns.
The FTC’s orders will allow the agency to investigate the inner workings of deals between Microsoft, Google and Amazon and AI providers to help the antitrust and consumer protection agency understand how these deals have affected competition.
It also signals to the industry that “we are watching, we are learning and we will continue to observe” and that if the time comes for future action, the agency will be fully prepared, said former FTC Chairman William Kovacic, Said, who teaches at George Washington University Law School.
The extensive document request seeks details on how partnerships with Big Tech will impact strategy and “decisions regarding pricing of products and services; decisions regarding providing access to products and services; and decisions around personnel.” Is.”
The agency, which also wants information on exclusivity agreements, said the companies have 45 days to respond to the orders.
In a statement, Microsoft said it would provide the FTC information to complete its review and that the collaboration with US companies has put the US at the forefront in AI.
“Partnerships between Microsoft and independent companies like OpenAI, as well as many others, are fostering competition and accelerating innovation,” said Rima Alai, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s competition and market regulation group.
Google said it hoped the investigation would “shine a brighter light on companies” that are less open than it and that have a “long history of locking-in customers.”
Spokespeople for Anthropic and Amazon declined to comment. OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last June, FTC staff published a blog post outlining potential anti-competitive areas, saying they were using a “full range of tools to identify and address unfair practices of competition”. Will use. It says competition is particularly important in the three areas of data, talent and computational resources.
During her first visit to Silicon Valley as FTC chair, Lina Khan said AI was a topic the agency was studying to determine whether the technology was controlled by a handful of companies.
Corporate investors like Microsoft and Amazon dominate AI funding. Corporate investors are expected to account for 90% of generic AI private fundraising in 2023, up from an average of around 40% in previous years, according to an analyst note from Morgan Stanley.
This month, Politico reported that the US Justice Department and the FTC were discussing which agency could investigate ChatGate maker OpenAI on antitrust grounds, including the AI firm’s partnership with Microsoft.
Microsoft’s alliance with OpenAI has drawn increased antitrust scrutiny after the US software giant committed to invest billions of dollars in OpenAI last year.
OpenAI and Anthropic, the startup known as Foundation Models, develop AI trained on large amounts of data. PitchBook data shows that large-scale investments in two AI companies accounted for more than 10% of total US venture funding in startups last year.
Anthropic has signed a deal to raise more than $4 billion from Amazon and $2 billion from Alphabet.
Large amounts of funding by Big Tech, sometimes in the form of cloud credits rather than cash, have raised eyebrows in the venture and startup community.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)