FTC Chair Lina Khan is looking for evidence that Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are demanding cloud computing spending, board seats, or exclusive contracts in exchange for investments in AI startups. There is. From the report: At Friday's event, Khan described today's AI landscape as a turning point in technology, saying it is “critical to opening up markets, introducing competition, and disrupting incumbents.” How the FTC Chair will address market research on the relationship between Big Tech companies and AI startups, told Axios' Sarah Fisher in an interview at the Digital Content Next Summit in Charleston, South Carolina. New details have been revealed about what's going on.
Khan said the company aims to tackle monopolies “before they become serious” in addressing the surge in AI innovation and its impact on the broader technology and media landscape. He said the FTC is looking for pain points in each layer of the AI technology stack: “chips, compute, underlying models, and applications.” Khan said they are also paying close attention to vertical integration, where players seek to extend the advantage of one technology layer to an adjacent layer or with the aim of consolidating an existing monopoly. He said he is keeping an eye on potential acquisitions. This includes possible integration with Sam Altman's early chip projects and OpenAI, but he said he welcomes the chip race.
