Microsoft and Apple may be playing the long game by ditching OpenAI board roles
Microsoft has given up its observer role on OpenAI's board, per a letter seen by Axios and others.
Apple is not expected to take up a similar observer role, the Financial Times reported.
The moves may be an attempt to ease regulatory concerns over their influence in the AI sector.
Microsoft and Apple might have made a play to assuage antitrust regulators' concerns over their involvement with OpenAI.
Microsoft has relinquished its role as an observer on OpenAI's board, while Apple will not take up a similar spot, news outlets including the Financial Times reported.
While Microsoft had no voting rights, its decision may be a bid to ease the concerns of regulators, who have been trying to assess its influence over OpenAI.
Microsoft won an observer role following the brief ousting of Sam Altman as OpenAI's CEO in November.
But on Tuesday, the company said it wasn't necessary to keep its seat after witnessing "significant progress" in the past eight months, according to a letter Microsoft sent to OpenAI, which was seen by outlets including Axios and the Financial Times.
Microsoft added in the letter that it's confident about OpenAI's direction.
Alex Haffner, a competition lawyer and partner at the law firm Fladgate, told Business Insider: "It is hard not to conclude that Microsoft's decision has been heavily influenced by the ongoing competition/antitrust scrutiny of its (and other major tech players) influence over emerging AI players such as OpenAI."
He added: "It is clear that regulators are very much focused on the complex web of interrelationships that Big Tech has created with AI providers, hence the need for Microsoft and others to carefully consider how they structure these arrangements going forward."
Microsoft has invested billions in the ChatGPT maker and gets nearly half of OpenAI's profits as part of the partnership. OpenAI relies on Microsoft's cloud services for the computing power needed to train and run its large language models.
New approach
The partnership is considered to have given Microsoft a leg up in the artificial-intelligence race, as OpenAI's models power its AI products, such as its Copilot chatbot.
An OpenAI representative told BI that its new CFO, Sarah Friar, was changing its approach to engaging with partners such as Microsoft and Apple, as well as investors including Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures.
"Moving forward, we will host regular stakeholder meetings to share progress on our mission and ensure stronger collaboration across safety and security," the representative said.
Apple is set to follow Microsoft's lead, retreating from its plan to take on a similar board-observer role, the FT reported. Bloomberg previously reported that Apple had secured an observer seat.
Antitrust scrutiny
This came after Apple announced in June at its Worldwide Developers Conference that it struck a partnership with OpenAI, integrating ChatGPT into its devices, including the iPhone, as part of a broader AI push.
The pullback underscores the mounting antitrust scrutiny of Big Tech's grip on AI. Regulators in both the US and the UK have raised concerns about market control through strategic partnerships.
Microsoft and OpenAI are both facing regulatory scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority. European regulators have also been assessing the partnership.
It remains to be seen whether Microsoft's and Apple's moves will soothe the unease about their involvement with OpenAI.
Microsoft and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment made outside normal working hours.
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