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   US senators seek answers on Google and Microsoft AI deals which may   
   'discourage competition'   
      
   Date:   
   Tue, 08 Apr 2025 17:22:00 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   US Senators are worried Microsoft/OpenAI and Google/Anthropic deals could    
   harm market competition.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Two tech industry titans that have been the subjects of many an   
   anticompetitive investigation are now being questioned over their    
   partnerships with AI companies.    
      
   Democratic US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden are reportedly    
   demanding information about the deals Google and Microsoft have with    
   companies at the forefront of artificial intelligence.    
      
   The concern is that these strong partnerships could impact competition within   
   the industry, violate antitrust laws, and ultimately lead to both fewer   
   choices and higher prices for customers.   
      
   Microsoft and Google questioned over AI deals   
      
   In question are Microsofts deal with OpenAI and Googles deal with Anthropic,   
   with the Senators seeking financial details of payments made by AI firms to   
   their cloud providers and information on whether the companies have exclusive   
   rights to certain AI models.    
      
   Warren and Wyden also want to know whether Google or Microsoft have any   
   intentions to acquire their respective AI partners.    
      
   Partnerships between CSPs and AI developers, if left unchecked, may    
   accelerate consolidation of the AI sector, ultimately driving up prices and   
   choking off innovation, the two said in their letter to Google CEO Sundar   
   Pichai and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei (via Reuters ), and in their second   
   letter to Microsoft and OpenAIs CEOs, Satya Nadella and Sam Altman.    
      
   This isnt the first time these specific companies have come under fire for   
   their involvement with leading AI firms.    
      
   A separate January 2025 report by the Federal Trade Commission had already   
   studied such partnerships, raising concerns about potential acquisitions    
   which could spell out disaster for competition.    
      
   As noted in the FTC and Department of Justice (DOJ)s merger guidelines, even   
   partial acquisitions may present 'significant competitive concerns' because    
   of the effects on firms incentives and strategy, the Senators continue.    
      
    TechRadar Pro has contacted all four companies for comments and context, but   
   we have not received any responses as yet.    
      
   Via Reuters   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/us-senators-seek-answers-on-google-and-microsoft   
   -ai-deals-that-could-discourage-competition   
      
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