Microsoft’s Altman ‘acquisition’ stokes fear AI control is consolidating

Sam Altman’s plan to join tech giant Microsoft after his ouster as the influential face of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is reigniting concern that control over artificial-intelligence tools is becoming too concentrated among a small number of Silicon Valley titans.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tweeted early Monday that both Altman and Greg Brockman, the former OpenAI president who resigned in solidarity with Altman on Friday, will be joining the company to lead “a new advanced AI research team.”

(Altman’s move to Microsoft is seemingly not yet a done deal, with Nadella leaving open the door for an OpenAI reunion in TV interviews Monday.)

Nearly all of OpenAI’s employees, meanwhile, threatened to quit unless Altman is reinstated, raising the specter that much of its workforce could soon decamp for one of the tech giants.

The looming transfer of talent is stoking fears among consumer advocates that the AI sector will soon become more dominated by behemoths like Microsoft and Google.

Steven Weber, a graduate professor at the University of California at Berkeley, called Microsoft’s plundering of talent from OpenAI the “ultimate AI antitrust heist” and “a de facto acquisition of a company in which it previously had a minority stake.”

Maria Langholz, communications director for the consumer group Demand Progress, said in an email that the shake-up “underscores the critical need for the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to investigate the rapid consolidation happening within the AI space.”

The move could allow Microsoft “to acquire OpenAI’s intellectual property with ZERO federal oversight or the need for regulatory approval,” warned George Rakis, executive director of the advocacy group NextGen Competition, in a statement.

It’s not immediately clear how much the tumultuous overhaul may affect Microsoft’s ties to OpenAI - or how significantly its approach to AI may shift with Altman on board.

In his tweet, Nadella appeared to play down the disruption, saying Microsoft remains “committed to our partnership with OpenAI and [we] have confidence in our product road map.”

OpenAI already shares its most important technology with Microsoft as part of the two companies’ partnership. In return, Microsoft gives OpenAI access to its huge computer data centers, which are vital to training advanced AI and very expensive to run.

OpenAI would need to either continue its partnership with Microsoft or find another investor and data center partner if it wanted to continue to train its own AI going forward.

Regardless, the moves may hasten calls for regulators to dial up scrutiny of Microsoft and other giants, which in recent years have invested in a flurry of AI start-ups.

More than 20 consumer groups last week urged the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to investigate whether some recent AI acquisitions by Big Tech violate antitrust laws. The letter suggested that Microsoft, Google, Amazon and other giants may be investing in rather than acquiring some start-ups as a “strategic choice” to avoid regulatory blowback.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post. The Post’s interim CEO, Patty Stonesifer, sits on Amazon’s board.

It’s an issue that’s already on the radar of federal regulators.

FTC officials are concerned that major tech companies may be carefully structuring their investments, including in AI, in an attempt to avoid regulatory scrutiny, according to a person familiar with the agency’s thinking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.

Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation think tank, argued that the changes at OpenAI highlight how “dynamic” the AI sector is. He said the concern over their impact on concentration is “predictable but laughable.”

“Talent is a valuable input, and talent is not tied to any one company,” Castro said in an email. “Hundreds of OpenAI employees have signaled a willingness to leave, so despite claims by some critics, even the leading AI companies do not have a stranglehold on top tech talent.”

The rapid advancements in AI development also serve as “a reminder that any dominance is short-lived” and that the “firms leading in AI today will not necessarily be the same ones leading tomorrow,” he added.