Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.
US is likely prepping antitrust suits for NVIDIA, Microsoft, and OpenAI, simultaneously
- A new report suggests the United States government is planning antitrust suits against NVIDIA, OpenAI, and Microsoft.
- Allegedly, the DOJ will go after NVIDIA, while the FTC will go after OpenAI and its primary investor, Microsoft.
- The last time news like this came out, the government ended up going after Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta.
Recently, the United States government has become more emboldened in its opposition to Big Tech, likely taking cues from the European Commission, which has given us things like the GDPR, USB-C ports on iPhones, and a more open and fair iOS ecosystem. Today, we have some new information about the US government’s possible next plan of attack: antitrust lawsuits against some of the biggest names in AI.
According to The New York Times, the US is investigating antitrust suits against NVIDIA (makers of the chips that power a lot of AI platforms), OpenAI (owners of the popular ChatGPT platform), and Microsoft (the principal investor in OpenAI). Since this is a massive undertaking, the government is apparently splitting up duties. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is going after OpenAI and Microsoft, while the Department of Justice (DOJ) will focus on NVIDIA.
Notably, the last time we heard a rumor about this was right before the government went after Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta for anti-competitive practices in their respective fields. So, while nothing is set in stone yet, it appears likely that some sort of suit will happen for these three companies.
It’s open knowledge that the FTC has already been investigating OpenAI since as early as 2023. The regulatory firm is looking to see if the company has caused harm to individuals by spreading false information. However, no cases against the company have officially been filed.
Likewise, Microsoft’s investment into OpenAI has also already been under investigation based on the idea that it stifles competition.
Really, the most surprising news here is NVIDIA. While NVIDIA is a major player in the AI boom, it only really focuses on creating the hardware for it. It’s possible the DOJ will be looking to see if the company has used its significant influence over the industry to crush smaller competitors, although that’s just speculation at the moment.
Regardless, it will be weeks, if not months, before we hear if these investigations become actual antitrust cases.