FTC launches inquiry into artificial intelligence deals such as Microsoft's OpenAI partnership

U.S. antitrust enforcers are opening an investigation into the relationships between leading artificial intelligence startups such as ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Anthropic and the tech giants that have invested billions of dollars into them.

“We’re scrutinizing whether these ties enable dominant firms to exert undue influence or gain privileged access in ways that could undermine fair competition,” said Lina Khan, chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, in opening remarks at a Thursday AI forum.

Both Google and Amazon have made multibillion-dollar deals with Anthropic, another San Francisco-based AI startup formed by former leaders at OpenAI.