Federal regulators have reportedly reached an agreement to investigate the dominant roles played by Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia in the rapidly evolving AI industry.
of The New York Times Reports The Justice Department and FTC agreed last week to move forward with an antitrust investigation into the conduct of major AI companies, according to two people familiar with the matter. The deal, expected to be finalized within days, is the strongest sign yet of growing regulatory scrutiny of the powerful technology.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang holds the company’s Drive PX autopilot computer at the GPU Technology Conference (GTC). Photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Under the deal, the Justice Department will lead an investigation into Nvidia, the world’s largest AI chipmaker, to determine whether the company’s conduct violates antitrust laws, while the FTC will lead an investigation into OpenAI, the maker of the popular chatbot ChatGPT, and Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion in OpenAI and secured contracts with other AI companies.
The Justice Department and FTC’s increased scrutiny of AI comes as the technology advances rapidly and has the potential to disrupt jobs, information, and people’s lives. The agencies have been at the forefront of efforts to curb the power of big tech companies, investigating and suing Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta for alleged antitrust violations.
Nvidia, Microsoft, and OpenAI largely escaped regulatory scrutiny for months, but that began to change with the sudden emergence of generative AI in late 2022, sparking a frenzy in the industry. In July, the FTC opened an investigation into whether OpenAI harmed consumers through its data-collection practices. The agency also launched a broader investigation into strategic alliances between tech giants and AI startups in January.
Nvidia, OpenAI and Microsoft have emerged as some of the biggest winners in the AI boom, raising questions about their dominance. Nvidia’s shares have soared more than 200% in the past year, and its market capitalization topped $3 trillion for the first time on Wednesday. Microsoft, the world’s most valuable public technology company, owns 49% of OpenAI and has integrated the startup’s technology into its own products, making it a major purveyor of artificial intelligence.
Click here for details of The New York Times here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship.
