Investigating tech giants' investments in AI companies

LThe FTC said it was seeking information about partnerships between Microsoft and OpenAI, Amazon and Anthropic, and Google and Anthropic.

The regulator asked the five companies for more information about their investments and partnerships, the agency said.

Microsoft's close partnership with OpenAI gained a lot of attention following the ouster and return of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman late last year.

After the AI ​​company's board fired Altman in November, Microsoft gave him the job of leading a new AI research group.

However, after being brought back a few days later to lead OpenAI, the company announced that Microsoft will now have a non-voting position on the board of directors.

According to research firm Pitchbook, investments in artificial intelligence startups will reach $17.9 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

According to analysts, the surge in funding towards AI is raising fears of a decline in other sectors of the technology sector.

Rising interest rates and the post-pandemic crisis have reduced venture capital funding, making AI one of the only bright spots in the venture capital world. In particular, so-called generative AI technology has dazzled users and investors with its ability to generate realistic images and human-sounding text in response to a few words. Some venture capitalists have compared the AI ​​boom to the advent of the consumer Internet.