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

European Commission says it is checking whether multibillion-dollar stake is reviewable under merger regulation

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.