The UK’s competition watchdog will not hold a formal investigation into Microsoft’s partnership with the startup behind the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, stating that while the $2.9tn (£2.3tn) tech company has “material influence” over OpenAI it does not control it.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest financial backer with a $13bn investment, acquired material influence over the San Francisco-based business in 2019 but did not exercise de facto control over it – and therefore did not meet the threshold for an official inquiry.
