EC Gives Up on Probe of Microsoft – OpenAI Investment

The European Commission will not start a formal investigation into Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI, according to media reports. Bloomberg reported the EC concluded the arrangement does not require a formal probe because OpenAI is not under Microsoft’s direct control.

The news agency stated the investment also falls short of an actual takeover attempt by Microsoft. An EC representative told Bloomberg it would have to find a long-term change of control between the companies had occurred. The EC's announcement of a check on whether Microsoft’s OpenAI investment could fall under its merger regulation came after moves by the UK and the US.

Microsoft paid $1.5 billion for a minority stake in United Arab Emirates-based AI company G42 last week, the latest in a series of multi-billion dollar investments across the AI sector in various countries around the world. Competitors Amazon and Google invested $4 billion and $2 billion, respectively in AI start-up Anthropic.