Open Markets Applauds FTC Investigation into Big Tech’s Generative AI Partnerships

WASHINGTON - Open Markets Institute Executive Director Barry Lynn released the following statement regarding the news that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will investigate partnerships between dominant tech giants and artificial intelligence companies, including Microsoft and OpenAI, Amazon and Anthropic, and Google and Anthropic. 

“We are thrilled to see the FTC act promptly to investigate partnerships between the dominant Big Tech corporations and companies developing next-wave artificial intelligence technologies. This action makes clear that regulatory authorities in the U.S. -- as well as in Europe and the UK -- are paying attention to our warnings and those of other leading public interest groups that Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are already positioned to dominate AI technology and services up and down the tech stack. We must learn from the key lesson of monopoly power in the digital age. The best way to avoid fundamental threats to our democracy and our economic wellbeing is to strike at the root. If we want the future of AI to be in the public interest, then it is the public that must set the rules.” 

In November 2023, Open Markets and the Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets released a report “AI in the Public Interest: Confronting the Monopoly Threat,” which detailed many of the threats posed by these partnerships and called on U.S. and European law enforcers to clearly separate the platforms from ownership of these technologies. 

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