As reported by the Financial Times, earlier Microsoft was planning to join OpenAI’s non-profit board, but now it will no longer join the board
After Apple, Microsoft ditches the observer seat on the board of OpenAI, less than eight months after securing the non-voting seat. Microsoft seems to believe that it was not necessary after the AI start-up’s governance had improved significantly in the past eight months.
As reported by the Financial Times, earlier Microsoft was planning to join OpenAI’s non-profit board, but now it will no longer join the board.
Microsoft no longer a part of OpenAI’s board
The decision is expected to come amidst scrutiny from U.S. and UK regulators over the extent of Microsoft’s control over the AI startup. The Verge reported that OpenAI confirmed that Microsoft has given up its seat in a statement. It looks like Microsoft’s deputy general counsel Keith Dolliver wrote a letter to OpenAI late on Tuesday.
It is expected that this concession alone is unlikely to satisfy the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). A member of FTC explained that the move shows Microsoft sees significant potential antitrust exposure and is trying to get ahead of it. Moreover the agency’s antitrust review of Big Tech and AI partnerships remains ongoing, as reported by Reuters.
“We’re grateful to Microsoft for voicing confidence in the Board and the direction of the company, and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership,” says Steve Sharpe, who is an OpenAI spokesperson. He also claimed that under the leadership of CFO Sarah Friar, OpenAI plans to establish a new approach to informing and engaging key strategic partners. The partners list include Microsoft and Apple and investors such as Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures.
What’s next
After Microsoft’s plan to step down from the observers seat, OpenAI will engage directly with Microsoft, through regular meetings, according to a company spokesperson. This new approach aims to foster collaboration while maintaining a degree of separation to address the growing antitrust scrutiny.
Earlier Apple had also opted against taking on a board observer role at OpenAI. Rumors suggest that OpenAI has no plans to offer such roles in the future.
Early reports suggest that Microsoft had invested over $10 billion into OpenAI, in a deal that made Microsoft the exclusive cloud partner for OpenAI. Microsoft’s cloud services also aim to power all OpenAI workloads across products, API services, and research. Furthermore, the deal seems to have given Microsoft an edge in the AI race. Additionally, OpenAI’s models will also help power Microsoft’s Bing search engine, Copilot, and a host of AI features across its products and services.
Source:financialexpress.com