US FTC to investigate hyperscale investments in AI firms

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently began investigating the AI deals made by the likes of OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Anthropic. The investigation is to determine how these deals may impact competition in the market, with concerns that the AI boom is deepening the power of a handful of companies. It will focus on the Microsoft/OpenAI investment, Amazon/Anthropic, and Google/Anthropic, all of which were multi-billion-dollar deals.

FTC chair Lina Khan said, “History shows that new technologies can create new markets and healthy competition. As companies race to develop and monetize AI, we must guard against tactics that foreclose this opportunity. Our study will shed light on whether investments and partnerships pursued by dominant companies risk distorting innovation and undermining fair competition."

The FTC is looking for information including the strategic rationale behind the agreements; the practical implications, including "decisions around new product releases, governance or oversight rights, and the topic of regular meetings;" an analysis of the transactions' competitive impact in regards to market share, competition, potential for sales growth, etc.