UK competition watchdog drops Microsoft-OpenAI probe

UK competition watchdog drops Microsoft-OpenAI probe 28 minutes ago Share Save Imran Rahman-Jones Technology reporter Share Save Getty OpenAI boss Sam Altman (left) and Microsoft boss Satya Nadella The UK competition watchdog has ended its investigation into the partnership between Microsoft and the maker of ChatGPT, OpenAI. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was looking into whether Microsoft's relationship with what is the world's best known artificial intelligence (AI) firm changed after the turmoil which saw its boss Sam Altman fired and then rehired. The CMA has concluded that, despite Microsoft investing billions of dollars into OpenAI and having exclusive uses of some of its AI products, the partnership remains the same, so is not subject to review under the UK's merger rules. Digital rights campaigners, Foxglove, said it showed the CMA had been "defanged." The CMA opened the probe in December 2023, after Microsoft had put pressure on OpenAI to re-employ Mr Altman, ... Read full article.