7 Mar 2025
UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said this alliance does not need an antitrust investigation under merger rules.
In 2016, OpenAI committed to using Microsoft Azure as the primary cloud service. In 2019, after OpenAI converted from a non-profit to a hybrid model, Microsoft invested $1 billion.
In 2023, Microsoft invested $10 billion, bringing the total to $13 billion. These investments allowed Microsoft to integrate OpenAI’s products with its own. Microsoft may garner 75% of OpenAI's profits as a return on investment along with a 49% stake in the company.
In 2023, CMA ordered an investigation to check if the alliance gave either of the firms a stronger hold and influence over the other. After 14 months of scrutiny, the competition authority approved the association. Microsoft faced antitrust issues in the UK and the US after its initial investment in 2019 and the boardroom battle of 2023 that led to the ousting and reinstatement of Sam Altman.
However, Microsoft still faces investigation into its cloud services.
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