The European legislator, eager to regulate the use of data from GAFAM related to AI

The European Commission is intensifying its efforts to control the expansion of generative artificial intelligence. It “is checking whether Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI,” the creator of ChatGPT, “can be subject to review under the EU regulation on concentrations,” it declared on Tuesday, January 9.

Indeed, Microsoft’s investment of nearly $13 billion in the California-based startup founded in 2015 raises concerns, especially regarding the growing dominance of American giants in this strategic sector.

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager will thus travel to California on January 11 and 12 for crucial talks with industry leaders, including Apple’s Tim Cook and Google’s Sundar Pichai, as well as representatives from OpenAI.

Brussels is “examining certain agreements that have been concluded between major players in the digital market and generative artificial intelligence (AI) developers” and specifically “studying the impact of these partnerships on market dynamics,” according to the Commission’s statement.

Concerns in the AI field

Generative AI, which enables the instant creation of texts, photos, sounds, or videos in response to user queries, is experiencing exponential growth. Venture capital investments in AI within the EU exceeded 7.2 billion euros in 2023, with the hope of developing European champions such as Aleph Alpha in Germany and Mistral AI in France.