Valuetainment - AI Companies Targeted in New FTC & DOJ Antitrust Investigation

Open Markets Institute’s report, AI in the Public Interest: Confronting their Monopoly Threat, which was published last year, in an article on federal investigations into Nvidia, Microsoft, and OpenAI for their monopolization of the AI space was cited in Valuetainment.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) are beginning an investigation into multiple AI companies, alleging that Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia may be in violation of antitrust law, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The investigation will primarily look at the companies’ conduct rather than their mergers and acquisitions, with the DOJ leading the probe into Nvidia and the FTC investigating Microsoft and OpenAI.

On Tuesday, former and current employees working on AI development at Google and OpenAI released an open letter calling for more open dialogue and for companies to refrain from retaliating against whistleblowers.

While it is yet to be determined if any laws have been violated, federal authorities will likely examine potential breaches of the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890), the Federal Trade Commission Act (1914), and/or the Robinson-Patman Act (1936). These laws prohibit monopolistic practices, unfair competition, deceptive practices, and discriminatory pricing practices in commerce. Essentially, the laws aim to prevent big companies from using unfair methods to dominate a market, cheat customers, or harm competitors.