The federal government is investigating investments and partnerships five corporate giants may have underway, including new acquisitions, involving generative AI companies and major cloud service providers.
The Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday that it issued orders to Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Microsoft, OpenAI Inc. and the San Francisco-based Anthropic PBC to learn about new corporate partnerships and investments with AI providers and "build an understanding" of any impacts on the market and competition.
The commission voted 3-0 to issue Section 6(b) orders and conduct the study of AI investments and partnerships. That authorizes new studies of current market trends and business practices, including to inform future commission actions.
