FTC says partnerships like Microsoft-OpenAI raise antitrust concerns

The Federal Trade Commission said A staff report There are potential competitive issues with partnerships between big tech companies and generative AI developers, according to Friday’s announcement — specifically, support for Microsoft’s OpenAI and Alphabet/Google’s partnerships with Amazon and Anthropic.

“The FTC’s report highlights how partnerships with big tech companies can create lock-in, deprive start-ups of key AI inputs, and expose sensitive information that can undermine fair competition,” said the FTC’s chair. Lina Khan a statement (President-elect Donald Trump There are plans to replace Khan as chair.)

The report highlights the role of Microsoft, Amazon and Google as cloud service providers working with OpenAI and Anthropic; Among other things, it suggests that these partnerships could affect access to computing resources and engineering talent, increase switching costs for companies working with AI developers, and give cloud providers unique access to sensitive information.

Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Rima Alaili told Bloomberg that the company’s partnership with OpenAI has “enabled one of the world’s most successful AI startups and spurred an unprecedented wave of technology investment and innovation in the industry.”