Technology giants Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL) have each given up their board seats at privately held OpenAI amid growing regulatory scrutiny of artificial intelligence (A.I.).
Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion U.S. in OpenAI, had a non-voting observer seat on OpenAI’s board of directors, which it has now rescinded.
Apple was to take up a similar role on OpenAI’s board but has decided against the move.
The departures of Microsoft and Apple mean that OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot, will have no observers on its board moving forward.
The decisions by Microsoft and Apple to distance themselves from OpenAI’s board of directors comes as regulators in Europe and the U.S. ramp-up their investigations of A.I. technologies.
Regulators in Europe have said that Microsoft could face an antitrust investigation over its influence and role with OpenAI.
Microsoft has integrated OpenAI’s technology into its Windows and cloud computing platforms and used it to launch the Copilot A.I. feature.
In the U.S., regulators have stepped up investigations into Microsoft’s dominance of the A.I. sector, with antitrust agencies circling the company.
Microsoft isn’t alone in being investigated. Regulators are also looking Apple’s relationship with OpenAI. Apple is working to bring OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology to future iPhone models.
Regulators are also scrutinizing Amazon’s (AMZN) collaboration with A.I. start-up company Anthropic.
Despite having no observers on its board, OpenAI has said that it plans to host regular stakeholder meetings with partners and investors to “share progress on our mission.”
OpenAI began in 2015 as a non-profit research organization but has since pivoted to a for-profit start-up company. The company’s stock does not trade on a public exchange.
