LONDON • Microsoft’s partnership with CHATGPT maker Openai is under scrutiny from antitrust regulators in the U.K. and the United States, according to a statement from the British regulator and a media report.

Microsoft said last month it would take a non-voting position on the board of Openai, following a dramatic boardroom battle that saw the sudden ouster and return of CEO and founder Sam Altman. Microsoft, which owns 49% of the for-profit subsidiary of the startup, has committed to investing more than $10 billion in Openai.

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Friday it will review whether to launch a merger probe of Microsoft’s investment in Openai to see if it could hurt U.K. competition.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is also examining the nature of Microsoft’s investment in Openai, and whether it may violate antitrust laws, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Microsoft has recently tangled with both the FTC and the CMA on its acquisition of videogame publisher Activision Blizzard over antitrust concerns.

The FTC’S inquiries are preliminary and the agency hasn’t opened a formal investigation, according to the report.

“There have recently been

a number of developments in the governance of Openai, some of which involved Microsoft,” the CMA said.

The speed at which the use of AI is growing is unrivaled in history, while advances in powerful foundation models, such as the one underpinning CHATGPT mean that this is a pivotal moment in the development of this transformative technology, the CMA said.

“The only thing that has changed is that Microsoft will now have a non-voting observer on Openai’s board, which is very different from an acquisition such as Google’s purchase of Deepmind in the U.K.,” said Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith, taking a swipe at its main rival.

He said the company will work closely with the CMA. Openai did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the CMA’S move.

The observer position means Microsoft’s representative can attend Openai’s board meetings and access confidential information, but it does not have voting rights on matters including electing or choosing directors.

Max von Thun, Europe director at Open Markets Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on strengthening antitrust law, said other regulators could follow the CMA.

“It is essential that antitrust authorities move quickly to investigate these deals, including unwinding them if necessary, to preserve competition and prevent this critical emerging technology from being monopolized.”