FTC launches inquiry to scrutinize tech giant investments in OpenAI and Anthropic (www.geekwire.com)
TLDR; Summary
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is launching an inquiry to investigate investments made by Microsoft and Amazon in AI startups OpenAI and Anthropic.
The inquiry aims to understand the investments and partnerships formed between generative AI developers and cloud service providers.
Microsoft has invested over $10 billion in OpenAI, while Amazon has committed to investing up to $4 billion in Anthropic.
Microsoft's Azure is the exclusive cloud provider to OpenAI, and Anthropic has made Amazon Web Services its main cloud provider.
The FTC is concerned about the potential distortion of innovation and fair competition due to investments and partnerships pursued by dominant companies.
This move by the FTC is part of its efforts to scrutinize Big Tech and its power in the market as the AI race intensifies.