US Opens Doors For Antitrust Investigations Into Tech Giants Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice have reached a deal that would allow them to launch an antitrust investigation into three tech giants -- Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI -- concerning their roles in the artificial intelligence industry.

According to the New York Times, two unidentified sources said the deal is expected to be completed in the coming days. The deal warrants the Justice Department to take the lead in investigating Nvidia's behavior, examining if the company committed violations of the antitrust laws.

Meanwhile, investigations on OpenAI, which is the maker of the popular ChatGPT chatbot, and Microsoft, which invested $13 billion in OpenAI, will be handled mainly by the Federal Trade Ccommission, the New York Times reported.

The agreement between the Justice Department and the FTC signals a more intensified effort from the U.S. government in overseeing the role of A.I. in people's lives and businesses, especially that it is one of the most rapidly advancing technologies to date and could potentially upset information and jobs.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the FTC is investigating Microsoft's latest deal with the startup company Inflection AI, looking into the intricacies of the transaction to determine whether it involved maneuvers to avoid an antitrust review by the government.

In March, Microsoft hired the co-founder of Inflection AI, along with almost all of the employees at the startup. It also agreed to pay $650 million, which is a part of the licensing fee for the giant to be able to sell its technology. Investors of Inflection AI were also informed that their investments would be repaid from sales proceeds.

Acquisitions that are more than $119 million are required to be reported by companies to federal antitrust enforcement agencies. The latter then have the option to scrutinize the deal and determine the impact it has on competition.

Either the Justice Department or the FTC can sue to block investments or mergers in the event that a federal investigation would show that a transaction could lead to a monopoly or substantially reduce competition.

The FTC right now has its eyes on the Microsoft-Inflection deal. It is digging into information on how and why the tech giant and the startup negotiated the way they did.