Microsoft's investment in OpenAI may face EU scrutiny, officials say

Microsoft's multibillion-dollar investment in the ChatGPT developer OpenAI could face a merger investigation in the European Union, officials have said. Microsoft is the largest minority investor in OpenAI Global LLC, a "capped profit" subsidiary company that is controlled by OpenAI Inc, the non-profit majority owner of the organisation. Its investment, given in the form of cloud-computing credits as well as cash, officially gives it no control of the company itself, but the possibility of a maximum of a 100-times return on its capital. The European Commission said on Tuesday it was "checking whether Microsoft's investment in OpenAI might be reviewable under the EU merger regulation". OpenAI's unusual corporate structure was thrust into the limelight last year, when its chief executive, Sam Altman, was ousted and then reappointed in a bitter struggle with the non-profit's board.