US Regulators to Launch Investigation Into AI Firms

The US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission plan to launch antitrust investigations into the perceived dominance of Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI in the AI segment. The agencies agreed to divide responsibilities in probing the three companies.

The two regulators have discussed the move over the past week, resulting in a conclusion in which the DoJ will take charge of investigating Nvidia’s potential violation of antitrust laws while the FTC will probe OpenAI and Microsoft. The move could be announced in the coming days, according to the New York Times. The decision to investigate is fueled by heightened concerns within the US government about the rise of humanlike AI-generated images, texts, videos, and audio.

Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI has also been the target of the European Commission, but the body eventually opted against launching an investigation as the partnership does not classify as an M&A. More recently, UK authorities also abandoned plans to probe Microsoft’s multi-million dollar deal with Mistral AI. Meanwhile, the planned US probe into Nvidia is linked to the ways in which the company locks customers into using its AI chips and how it distributes the chips to customers, as industry players have grown worried about its dominance.