Microsoft Quits OpenAI Board And Apple Holds Off Amid Pressure
Microsoft has relinquished its seat on OpenAI’s board and Apple will no longer assume an equivalent role, according to news reports Wednesday, an unexpected move from the tech giants as they jostle for AI supremacy amid increasing scrutiny from regulators over their investments in artificial intelligence.
Microsoft has reportedly relinquished its nonvoting observer seat on OpenAI's board. According to Alex Haffner, competition partner at U.K. law firm Fladgate, Microsoft’s decision may have been influenced by the ongoing competition/antitrust scrutiny of its influence over emerging AI players like Open AI. The EU Commission's probe into Microsoft and Open AI was dropped in June, but regulators are still looking at the relationships between companies in the AI space.
Increased Scrutiny on Big Tech
While Big Tech thrived under minimal antitrust scrutiny for a decade, they are now facing pressure from global competition regulators. Investigations and enforcement have focused on areas central to the digital economy, including how tech companies dominate online marketplaces and apps. Regulators are also concerned about anti-competitive acquisitions, such as Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of gaming studio Blizzard.
The boom in interest in generative AI, highlighted by OpenAI’s chatbot assistant ChatGPT, has led to a race to develop sophisticated AI tools. This race has produced tools like OpenAI’s Sora, Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Copilot, Adobe’s Firefly, and Anthropic’s Claude, sparking concerns about the technology’s impact on jobs and its potential to spread misinformation.
Regulatory Concerns
Antitrust regulators are wary of giant players hindering smaller competitors. Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon have faced scrutiny over their AI investments. Microsoft's $13 billion investment in OpenAI and its acqui-hire of startup Inflection have come under regulatory scrutiny in Europe and the U.S. Similarly, Google faces a probe over plans to preinstall its Gemini AI on Samsung phones, while Amazon is being scrutinized for its $4 billion investment in Anthropic.
Sam Altman, a key figure in OpenAI, has an estimated net worth of $1 billion. His fortune primarily comes from his role as a venture investor. Before his involvement with OpenAI, Altman founded social mapping company Loopt and was a partner and president at tech startup accelerator Y Combinator.
