The following statement can be attributed to George Rakis, Executive Director for NextGen Competition (nextgencomp.tech):

We are disappointed in the EU’s decision not to probe Microsoft’s $13 billion “partnership” with OpenAI. The decision is especially perplexing as evidence mounts that OpenAI functions as a de facto subsidiary. The pseudo-merger between both companies was and is a calculated attempt to evade government antitrust scrutiny.

Further, Microsoft and its Big Tech peers Google and Amazon, have continued to exert influence over other AI “startups”—like Mistral, Anthropic, and Inflection—and make them dependent on the tech giants for cloud computing and other key inputs for generative AI development. As with the EU’s blessing of Microsoft’s mega-merger with Activision, Europe is raising doubts about its commitment to addressing market power. We hope the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and U.K. Competition Markets Authority stay the course in their respective investigations into the deals between AI startups and tech giants.

About NextGen Competition

Our mission is to support a robust and competitive technology ecosystem by opposing anti-competitive business practices and promoting greater industry accountability. Specifically, we oppose consolidation in the industry that undermines worker protections and employer accountability, threatens data privacy and security, encourages market concentration, and limits consumer choice. NextGen Competition intends to work with a broad coalition of unions and public interest partners as it seeks to oppose anti-competitive business practices.