The FTC says partnerships like Microsoft-OpenAI raise antitrust concerns

The Federal Trade Commission said in… Staff report It was released on Friday that there are potential competitive issues in partnerships between big tech companies and AI developers — specifically, Microsoft’s support for OpenAI and Amazon and Alphabet/Google’s partnerships with Anthropic.

“The FTC’s report highlights how partnerships between big tech companies can create restrictions, deprive startups of key AI inputs, and disclose sensitive information that can undermine fair competition,” said FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan. statement. (President-elect Donald Trump Plans to replace Khan as president.)

The report focuses on the roles of Microsoft, Amazon, and Google as cloud providers working with OpenAI and Anthropic; Among other things, the report notes that these partnerships could impact access to computing resources and engineering talent, increase switching costs for companies that work with AI developers, and may give cloud providers unique access to sensitive information.

Deputy General Counsel of Microsoft, Rima Al-Aleeli He told Bloomberg The company’s partnership with OpenAI “has empowered one of the world’s most successful AI startups and sparked a wave of unprecedented technology investment and innovation in the industry.”