FTC Probes Tech Giants’ Alliances with AI Firms

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an investigation into Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Alphabet regarding their “investments and partnerships” in the field of generative artificial intelligence.

In an executive order, the agency demanded that these companies provide relevant information. The initiative aims to assess the impact of these deals and their strategic implications for the competitive landscape.

The commission is also interested in accessing data that firms share with any other government agency, including foreign ones.

The agency’s authority allows it to compel companies to submit specific reports and responses to inquiries about their activities.

According to FTC Chair Lina Khan, the requests constitute a “market study of investments and partnerships formed between AI developers and major cloud service providers.”

Organizations employ various approaches to the development and use of artificial intelligence. These include forming partnerships and making direct investments in AI developers to access technologies and necessary resources.

“Partnerships between independent companies, such as Microsoft and OpenAI […], promote competition and accelerate innovation,” commented Microsoft.

Earlier, a group of European lawmakers announced plans to draft regulations to control the development of AI systems.

In October 2023, it was revealed that EU authorities are discussing tightening regulations on large models, including Meta’s Llama 2 and OpenAI’s GPT-4.