The United States leads the way in antitrust investigations into Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI

For months, Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI have largely escaped the brunt of the Biden administration’s regulatory scrutiny. But things started to change when generative AI, capable of producing human-like text, photos, video and audio, hit the scene in late 2022 and created a frenzy in the industry.

Regulators have recently signaled that they want to get ahead of developments in artificial intelligence. In July, the FTC launched an investigation into whether OpenAI had harmed consumers through data collection. In January, the FTC also launched a broad investigation into strategic partnerships between tech giants and AI startups, including Microsoft’s investments in OpenAI and Google and Amazon’s investments in Anthropic, another young AI company . artificial intelligence.

However, the United States lags behind Europe in regulating AI. European Union officials last year agreed on key rules to govern the rapidly evolving technology, focusing on the riskiest ways it can be used. In Washington last month, a group of senators released legislative recommendations for artificial intelligence, calling for $32 billion in annual spending to advance American leadership in the technology, but delaying calls for specific new regulations.

Discussions between the FTC and the Justice Department about artificial intelligence companies entered their final stages last week and involved senior levels of both agencies, said a person familiar with the discussions, who is a FTC official. FTC.

Lina Khan, chairwoman of the FTC, said in a February interview that when it comes to artificial intelligence, the agency is trying to spot “potential problems early on rather than years and years and years later when the problems are deeply rooted and much more difficult.” in order to correct.”