The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are preparing to investigate several major companies in the artificial intelligence industry for anti-competitive issues, Politico reported on June 6.
Under the agreement, the DOJ will investigate Nvidia, a company that dominates the supply of high-end semiconductors to the artificial intelligence industry. It is estimated that the tech giant controls up to 90% of the high-end AI chip market.
At the same time, the FTC will review Microsoft and OpenAI to determine whether they have unfair advantages in artificial intelligence and large language model (LLM) technology.
In addition, the FTC and DOJ will continue to retain regulatory authority over Amazon and Google, both of which reportedly face pending investigations related to artificial intelligence in addition to existing antitrust cases.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the same day that the FTC is also investigating a deal between Microsoft and Inflection AI to determine whether the deal is intended to circumvent the government's antitrust review.
Investigation of protocol limitations
Although the DOJ and FTC have yet to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, Politico noted that the lack of an agreement has limited the two agencies' ability to investigate.
Just last July, the FTC launched an investigation into OpenAI's possible violations of consumer protection laws, involving multiple issues with its AI model.
In January, the FTC asked Google, Anthropic, Amazon, Microsoft, and OpenAI to provide detailed information about the companies’ investments, partnerships, and competition for AI inputs and resources, information that could be used in future FTC actions.
In March of this year, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also announced that it had launched an investigation into a number of companies including Microsoft, Amazon and Inflection.
These investigations reflect the growing concern among global regulators about fair competition in the field of AI and their determination to ensure that technological progress is not affected by market monopoly.
With the rapid development and widespread application of artificial intelligence technology, ensuring a healthy competitive environment in the industry is essential to promoting innovation and protecting consumer rights. #人工智能 #监管 #DOJ #FTC
Conclusion:
In the face of the rapid development of the artificial intelligence industry and the increasing market concentration, the investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission highlight the regulators’ determination to ensure fair market competition. These investigations not only concern the business practices of individual companies, but also touch upon the balance of global technological progress and innovation.
Through these reviews, regulators aim to maintain an open and fair market competition environment, protect consumer interests, and promote the sustainable development of the entire industry. At the same time, it also reminds all market participants, including emerging AI companies, that they must innovate and develop under the premise of complying with laws and regulations.
