U.S. Clears Way for Antitrust Inquiries of Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the agreement between the U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to divide responsibility for investigating three major players in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry - Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia. It highlights the escalating regulatory scrutiny into the powerful AI technology and the government's efforts to rein in the power of big tech companies.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Regulatory Scrutiny of AI Companies

1. What is the agreement between the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission regarding the investigation of AI companies?

• The Justice Department will take the lead in investigating whether Nvidia's behavior has violated antitrust laws.
• The FTC will play the lead role in examining the conduct of OpenAI and Microsoft's dealings with AI companies.
• This agreement signals the intensifying scrutiny by the government agencies into the AI industry, which has the potential to disrupt jobs, information, and people's lives.

2. How does the regulatory scrutiny of AI companies in the U.S. compare to Europe?

• The U.S. lags behind Europe in regulating artificial intelligence. The European Union has already agreed on landmark rules to govern the fast-evolving AI technology, focusing on the riskiest ways in which it can be used.
• In the U.S., a group of senators has released legislative recommendations for AI, calling for increased funding to propel American leadership, but has held off on asking for specific new regulations.

[02] Dominance of AI Companies

1. What are the concerns about Nvidia's dominance in the AI industry?

• Nvidia is the primary provider of graphics processing units (GPUs), which are crucial for AI tasks like machine learning. The company's dominance has raised concerns, including how its software locks customers into using its chips and how it distributes those chips to customers.

2. How has Microsoft become a leading purveyor of AI?

• Microsoft owns 49% of OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot, which has captivated the public and become one of the most prominent tech companies.
• Microsoft has integrated OpenAI's technology into its own products, such as Bing search engine and Microsoft Office applications.
• There are concerns that Microsoft's AI deals may give the company influence over an emerging technology while avoiding direct regulatory scrutiny.