Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia investigated over possible breach of antitrust laws

The US justice department and the Federal Trade Commission have reached an agreement on investigations into key protagonists in the AI market.Photograph: Bruna Casas/Reuters

Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia face increased antitrust scrutiny of their roles in the artificial intelligence industry after a report that US regulators have reached an agreement on investigating the companies.

The New York Times reported that the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have reached an agreement on investigations into the main protagonists in the AI market. The deal is expected to be completed in the coming days, according to the report.

The justice department will lead on investigating whether Nvidia, the leading maker of chips that train and operate AI systems, has broken antitrust laws that oversee fair competition in business and aim to prevent monopolies, said the NYT on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the FTC will scrutinise OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot, and Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest investor and a considerable financial backer of other AI companies.

The Wall Street Journal also reported on Thursday that the FTC is investigating whether Microsoft structured a recent deal with startup Inflection AI to avoid an antitrust inquiry.

In March, Microsoft hired Inflection’s CEO and co-founder, UK entrepreneur Mustafa Suleyman, as the boss of a new AI division and agreed to pay his company $650m (£508m) to license its AI software.

The FTC has already signalled interest in the AI market. In January, it ordered OpenAI, Microsoft, Google owner Alphabet, Amazon, and startup Anthropic to provide information on recent investments and partnerships involving generative AI companies and cloud service providers.

Last year, it opened an investigation into OpenAI on claims it had run afoul of consumer protection laws by putting personal reputations and data at risk.

The head of the justice department’s antitrust division, Jonathan Kanter, told the Financial Times on Thursday that the organisation would look “with urgency” at the AI sector and would examine “monopoly choke points and the competitive landscape” in the technology.

Kanter said regulators must act quickly to ensure that powerful tech companies do not control the market.

The Department of Justice and Microsoft were contacted for comment. The FTC, Nvidia and OpenAI declined to comment.