People familiar with the matter revealed that Microsoft's significant investment in OpenAI, as well as collaborations with other tech giants like Alphabet and Amazon, is under scrutiny by antitrust enforcers on both sides of the Atlantic. Although the European Union antitrust regulator initially chose not to launch an investigation under merger rules, Microsoft remains potentially vulnerable to facing an antitrust probe regarding the impact of these partnerships on competition.
The European Commission is reportedly considering the possibility of investigating Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI from a different perspective, as regulators continue to gather evidence and evaluate the need for an antitrust examination. Despite no definitive decision being made yet, the EU competition enforcer is actively assessing whether Microsoft's investment in OpenAI meets the criteria for review under the EU Merger Regulation.
Microsoft's role within the OpenAI board is clarified as a non-voting position, with the tech company emphasizing that it does not have any ownership stake in the ChatGPT maker. While the Commission refrained from commenting on the broader antitrust landscape, it acknowledged the need to determine if Microsoft's investment in OpenAI signifies a significant and lasting change of control that could arouse competition concerns, signaling a potential for further investigation.