Microsoft’s $13 billion investment into OpenAI faces extra EU scrutiny

Microsoft Corp.’s $13 billion investment into OpenAI Inc. is set to come under added scrutiny from European Union’s antitrust watchdogs, who are poised to quiz rivals about the AI firm’s exclusive use of Microsoft’s cloud technology.

Margrethe Vestager, the bloc’s antitrust chief, announced Friday that the EU has ruled out an investigation under the EU’s merger rules into the deal. Instead, she announced that regulators are asking Microsoft’s rivals about the US company’s exclusivity clauses with OpenAI, and whether they might have a negative effect on competition.