- Two US Senators have asked Tech giants about more information about AI offerings
- Even partial acquisitions could hurt the competition
- FTC also noticed potential competition problems
Two Tech Industrititans, which have been the subject of many a competitive study, are now being questioned by their partnerships with AI companies.
Democratic US senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden allegedly require information about the offers that Google and Microsoft have with companies at the forefront of artificial intelligence.
The concern is that these strong partnerships can affect competition in the industry, violate antitrust laws and ultimately lead to both fewer choices and higher prices for customers.
Microsoft and Google asked about AI offers
This is Microsoft’s agreement with Openai and Google’s agreement with anthropic, where the senators seek financial details of payments made by AI companies to their cloud providers and information on whether companies have exclusive rights to certain AI models.
Warren and Wyden will also know if Google or Microsoft has any intentions to acquire their respective AI partners.
“Partnerships between CSPs and AI developers, if not controlled, can speed up consolidation of the AI sector, ultimately increases prices and stifles innovation,” the two said in their letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and anthropic CEO Dario Amodei (via Pakinomist), and in their second letter to Microsoft and Openai’s CEOS, Satya Nadella and Sam Altman.
This is not the first time these specific companies come under fire to their commitment to leading AI companies.
A separate January 2025 report from the Federal Trade Commission had already investigated such partnerships, which raised concerns about potential acquisitions that could spell disaster for competition.
“As noted in the FTC and Department of Justice (DOJ )’s merger guidelines, even partial acquisitions may be ‘significant competitive concerns’ due to the effects on companies’ incentives and strategy,” the senators continue.
Techradar Pro have contacted all four companies for comments and context, but we have not yet received any answers.
Via Pakinomist
