ALBAWABA - In the clearest indication yet that oversight of the advanced AI technology has grown more intense, the federal government has reached an agreement that permits them to go forward with antitrust investigation into the prominent positions that Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia hold in the artificial intelligence industry, according to a report by New York Times.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will take the initiative to investigate Microsoft and OpenAI, while the Department of Justice (DOJ) will concentrate on Nvidia, as CNBC reports citing familiar sources. The investigations will focus on the behavior of the firms, instead of acquisitions and mergers in general.
Investigating their share to the quickly developing technology that has the possibility of disrupting employment, data, and everyday life, the FTC. will be taking the lead in investigating the actions of OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT, and Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion in OpenAI and entered into multiple agreements with other artificial intelligence firms.
Major tech firms have been in a race to develop AI technologies in the recent years, with Microsoft, for example, making its $1 billion investment in OpenAI debut in 2019. Since then, its investments into the technology have increased to over $13 billion, providing open-source models on its Azure cloud and primarily leveraging OpenAI's models for its Copilot chatbot.
The upcoming antitrust investigation was announced a few days after an ensemble of former and present employees of OpenAI wrote an open letter expressing worries regarding the industry's rapid growth in the midst of oversight shortcomings and a lack of protection for those who want to come forward as whistleblowers.
