US Antitrust Enforcers Probe Big Tech's AI Boom

The US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are launching investigations into Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI's roles in the artificial intelligence boom. This scrutiny aligns with President Joe Biden's push for tougher regulation of Big Tech. Nvidia, OpenAI, and Microsoft have not commented on the ongoing investigation.

US antitrust enforcers have set their sights on Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI to investigate their roles in the artificial intelligence boom, sources close to the matter revealed.

The Department of Justice will probe chipmaker Nvidia, while the Federal Trade Commission will examine the business practices of Microsoft and OpenAI, two people familiar with the investigations told The Associated Press under anonymity.

Neither Nvidia nor OpenAI chose to comment on Thursday, and Microsoft has yet to issue a response to a request for comment.

This development follows a report by The New York Times, highlighting a deal between antitrust regulators to scrutinize the tech giants.

Under President Joe Biden's administration, there has been a strong push for increased scrutiny of Big Tech's operations. Federal officials have been closely monitoring the rapidly evolving AI sector, particularly chatbots and generative AI products that mimic human-like text, imagery, and sound.

Lina Khan, chair of the FTC, stated in January that the agency will focus on deals that allow dominant firms to potentially undermine fair competition through undue influence or privileged access.

The FTC had previously announced an inquiry into the relationships between leading AI startups, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, with cloud computing providers like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. These tech giants have invested billions into AI research and development.

Microsoft's collaboration with OpenAI has been notably close, providing the San Francisco company with substantial computing power for training AI systems like ChatGPT.

Additionally, Nvidia's specialised semiconductors have become pivotal in AI applications, significantly boosting the company's stock value, which exceeded $3 trillion in market capitalization on Wednesday, marking it as one of the S&P 500's most valuable enterprises.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)