Abishek D Praphullalumar
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden are pressing Google and Microsoft over their cloud computing partnerships with AI firms Anthropic and OpenAI, respectively. The senators raised concerns that these alliances may stifle competition, inflate prices, and restrict innovation in the fast-moving AI sector.
In formal letters, the senators requested transparency around any exclusive licensing rights, financial terms, and whether these deals grant tech giants undue influence over AI startups’ operations. The inquiry follows an FTC report from January that hinted at potential anti-competitive behavior, including clauses that may force AI firms to release models exclusively through their cloud providers.
So far, Google and Microsoft have not responded publicly. With AI becoming a foundational industry, this marks a significant step toward regulating how cloud and AI partnerships could reshape market dynamics and possibly lead to acquisitions of AI companies by their cloud backers.
