Google, Amazon, Microsoft AI Partnerships Face FTC Scrutiny

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Thursday that it has launched an inquiry into generative AI investments and partnerships in order to better understand these relationships and their impact on the competitive landscape.

The FTC issued orders to Alphabet, Inc. GOOG, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Anthropic PBC, Microsoft Corp. MSFT and OpenAI, Inc. requiring them to provide information regarding recent investments and partnerships involving generative AI companies and major cloud service providers.

"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," said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan in a press release. 

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"Our study will shed light on whether investments and partnerships pursued by dominant companies risk distorting innovation and undermining fair competition.”

The FTC is specifically seeking information on the recent investments and partnerships between Microsoft and OpenAI, Amazon and Anthropic, as well as Google and Anthropic. The companies will have 45 days from the date they receive the orders to respond to the FTC.