The European Commission (EC) is stepping up its investigation of artificial intelligence (AI) deals to prevent monopolies, influence competition and innovation.
Ms. Margrethe Vestager, EC Executive Vice President for Competition Policy, warned that AI is “developing at breakneck speed” and revealed many preliminary investigations into AI-related market activities are conducted.
Ms. Vestager's concerns about potentially anti-competitive practices stem from moves by major technology companies in the AI field since ChatGPT appeared.
Executive Vice President of A Europe Fit for the Digital Age and Competition Margrethe Vestager holds a press conference on the antitrust case against Mondelez in Brussels, Belgium, May 23. EPA-Yonhap
According to Reuters, the European Union (EU) is currently increasing its supervision of AI agreements, starting with the prominent collaborations between Microsoft-OpenAI and Google-Samsung.
The above move shows the bloc's growing concern about the potential monopoly of technology giants in the rapidly developing field of AI.
Billion dollar partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI
Microsoft's valuable partnership with OpenAI is one of the most notable collaborations in the AI industry. Starting in 2019 and expanding in the following years, Microsoft has invested heavily in OpenAI, providing cloud computing resources through the Azure platform and integrating OpenAI's advanced AI models into its products. its products and services.
The goal of the collaboration is to advance AI research and development, showing notable advances such as the GPT-3 language model and, more recently, ChatGPT. However, this alliance raises concerns about its ability to dominate the market and create barriers to entry for smaller AI companies.
The EC said it considered the deal last year but decided not to investigate the merger after concluding that Microsoft did not take control of OpenAI. However, Ms. Vestager said that the Commission would review the agreement in light of the bloc's antitrust laws, which target abusive practices by market-dominant companies.
For now, we conclude that @Microsoft has not acquired control of @OpenAI under Merger Regulation.We will keep monitoring the relationships between all key players in the AI sector, incl. Microsoft & OpenAI. #GenAIVirtualWorldsWorkshop
— Margrethe Vestager (@vestager) June 28, 2024
The commission is now asking Microsoft for specific information about the exclusivity provisions in its agreement with OpenAI, to determine whether they could harm competition in the AI market.
The question arises with the partnership between Google and Samsung
The related agreement between Google and Samsung also attracted significant attention. Samsung leverages its hardware capabilities with the power of Google's AI to develop cutting-edge mobile technology and consumer electronics. This includes integrating Google's AI algorithms into Samsung devices, helping to enhance features such as voice recognition, camera functionality and a more personalized user experience.
However, this cooperation raises questions about the fairness of competition, especially access to important technologies and market influence.
According to Ms. Vestager, the EC submitted a request for information “to better understand the impact of the agreement between Google and Samsung” regarding the pre-installation of Gemini Nano, the smallest version of Google's Gemini AI platform model , on some Samsung devices.
What future for the European AI market?
With tech giants like Microsoft and Google aggressively expanding the potential of their AI through acquisitions and partnerships, it's no surprise that regulators are concerned about market dominance and its impact on fair competition. This led to intervention from the EU, which was expected.
In response to the EU's move, Microsoft and Google reaffirmed their commitment to comply with legal requirements, while continuing to innovate responsibly in the field of AI technology.
The outcome of the EU antitrust investigation, if successful, has important implications for how big tech companies operate in Europe's AI market. This could lead to regulatory measures that promote a more level playing field and ensure that smaller competitors have a fair opportunity to compete and innovate.
