On June 29th, financial news agency reported (Editor Zhao Hao) that the EU is preparing for further anti-monopoly investigation into the $13 billion investment in OpenAI. In January of this year, the EU announced an investigation into Microsoft's investment in OpenAI under the EU's Merger Regulation, but both companies claimed to have maintained their independence. The EU now believes that Microsoft did not indeed develop towards controlling OpenAI, so this investigation will not continue. However, the EU stated that it is currently exploring the possibility of conducting traditional anti-monopoly investigations to determine whether the cooperation between the two giants has harmed the competition in the rapidly growing market. The European Commission revealed that it is also investigating AI-related agreements between Google and Samsung. Source: Vista Social Media account.$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$The EU is preparing for further anti-monopoly investigation into the $13 billion investment in OpenAI.

In January of this year, the EU announced an investigation into Microsoft's investment in OpenAI under the EU's Merger Regulation, but both companies claimed to have maintained their independence. The EU now believes that Microsoft did not indeed develop towards controlling OpenAI, so this investigation will not continue. However, the EU stated that it is currently exploring the possibility of conducting traditional anti-monopoly investigations to determine whether the cooperation between the two giants has harmed the competition in the rapidly growing market. The European Commission revealed that it is also investigating AI-related agreements between Google and Samsung.

The EU is exploring the possibility of conducting traditional anti-monopoly investigations to determine whether the cooperation between the two giants has harmed the competition in the rapidly growing market. The European Commission is also investigating AI-related agreements between Google and Samsung.

Source: Vista Social Media account.

On Friday (June 28th), Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Competition, said at an event: "The key issue before was whether Microsoft would gain long-term control over OpenAI. After thorough review, we concluded that this was not the case. So, we are ending this chapter, but the story is far from over."

Vestager added that the EU has raised a series of new questions to determine whether the "certain exclusivity clauses" in the Microsoft-OpenAI agreement "could have a negative impact on competitors" - a critical step that is seen as a formal antitrust investigation.

According to media reports, as a major investor in OpenAI, Microsoft has invested at least $13 billion since the two companies began working together in 2019. Especially after the "personnel earthquake" event of OpenAI last November, Microsoft gained an observer seat in the board of directors.

It is worth mentioning that regulatory agencies in the United States and the United Kingdom are also carefully scrutinizing the "Microsoft-OpenAI" alliance. Vestager said the EU sent letters of inquiry to Microsoft and other tech firms in March to determine whether the concentration in the AI field could prevent new companies from entering the market.

Analysis shows that unlike merger reviews that take a relatively short time, antitrust investigations often last for several years. However, companies that are ultimately found to have violated the law, such as those that engage in tied-selling or prevent competitors from obtaining key technology, face enormous fines and the legal obligation to rectify the risks. Vestager also mentioned that the EU is studying a technique commonly used by tech giants called "acqui-hires", which refer to the acquisition of talent by acquiring small AI models, such as Microsoft's announcement in March of hiring most of the top team members of AI start-up Inflection AI, but Inflection still operates as an independent company on the surface. Vestager said that regulators are also investigating potential ways in which large tech companies prevent small AI models from accessing users, "which is why we are looking at the impact of the agreement between Google and Samsung."

The story is far from over.

Vestager also mentioned that the EU is studying "acqui-hires", a technique commonly used by tech giants that refers to the acquisition of talent by acquiring small AI models.

Vestager said that regulators are investigating potential ways in which large tech companies prevent small AI models from accessing users, "which is why we are looking at the impact of the agreement between Google and Samsung." Google has arranged to pre-install its "Gemini Nano" model on some Samsung phones.

Editor / jayden