The European Commission says it will review Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI, the company that rose to prominence in 2023 with ChatGPT. If a possible violation of competition rules is found, an investigation may be opened.

ChatGPT and OpenAIPhoto: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Editorial/Profimedia

The European Commission says it will review the biggest deals between major digital market players and developers of generative artificial intelligence software to analyze what impact these partnerships have had on market dynamics.

Over the past five years, Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI and integrated ChatGPT into its products, and the closeness between the two companies is evident even though Microsoft did not have a seat on OpenAI’s board of directors.

The rapprochement became even more apparent after the high-profile firing of Sam Altman, head of OpenAI, in November. At one point, Microsoft offered to hire Sam Altman, and it seemed that hundreds of people from OpenAI would move to Microsoft. In the end, the head of Microsoft personally negotiated Altman’s return to the position of head of OpenAI.

Satya Nadella is friends with Sam Altman, and the future of OpenAI depends a lot on Microsoft.