After 14 Months, Microsoft's $13 Billion Collaboration with OpenAI Approved

On March 5, the U.K. antitrust regulator approved Microsoft's $13 billion ($94.7 billion) investment in OpenAI, ending months of uncertainty over the partnership, Bloomberg reported. The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the deal did not meet the criteria for a full investigation in 2023.The CMA had said in 2023 that it intended to review whether the tie-up would give either of the two companies more control and influence over the other. The decision removes one of the regulatory uncertainties facing Microsoft in the U.K. after a review of about 14 months. Microsoft's cloud services business is still under investigation, however. Just weeks before the decision was announced, the US Federal Trade Commission had expressed concerns that the deal could extend Microsoft's dominance in the cloud to the emerging AI market.In a statement, the CMA said, "The CMA found that, while Microsoft did gain substantial leverage over OpenAI in 2019, Microsoft did not reach the point of controlling OpenAI." (Source: Phoenix Tech)