Microsoft and Amazon asked to comment on tie-ups, a move that paves way for formal investigationThe UK competition watchdog has stepped up its scrutiny of big tech involvement in artificial intelligence startups, asking for comment on three deals by Microsoft and Amazon.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it was examining Microsoft’s investment in the French firm Mistral and the hiring of the DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman as head of the US company’s new AI division....
Spending on lobbying to shape AI policy in Washington is soaring—and tech
The more I read and write about AI, the firmer I get in my conviction that Big Tech incumbents absolutely must strangle the decentralized AI in its cradle before it wrecks everything.Take a look at this interview Ben Thompson did with OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott. I call your attention to this part in particular:From Microsoft’s perspective, is this going to be a funnel into new products or do you see it as an end goal in and of itself, winning search?KS: So I think you hit...
If 2023 was the tech industry's year of the artificial intelligence chatbot, 2024 is turning out to be the year of AI plumbing. It may not sound as exciting, but tens of billions of dollars are quickly being spent on behind-the-scenes technology for the industry's AI boom. Companies from Amazon to Meta are revamping their data centers to support AI. They are investing in huge new facilities, while even places like Saudi Arabia are racing to build supercomputers to handle AI. Nearly everyone with...
UK regulators will scrutinize partnerships between Microsoft and Amazon to review potential AI competition issues.
Mustafa Suleyman grew up in subsidized housing in one of London's roughest areas. His father, a Syrian immigrant, drove a taxi. His mother was a nurse with the National Health Service. When the prestigious Queen Elizabeth's School accepted him at age 11, the family moved into a safer, leafier neighborhood a few miles north. There, he met 20-year-old Demis Hassabis, after becoming friends with his younger brother. Hassabis was a chess prodigy and video game designer whose parents -- one a Greek...
Technology majors Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft unveiled their earnings for the first quarter of 2024. Artificial intelligence (AI) continued to be a major spending area for all three companies.Let's break down the earnings reports:FinancialsGoogle: Google's parent, Alphabet, reported strong financial results for the first quarter of 2024. Profits reached $23.7 billion on revenue of $80.5 billion, with growth attributed to cloud computing, YouTube, and continued strength in online search...
British competition regulators said Wednesday they'll scrutinize recent artificial intelligence deals by Microsoft and Amazon over concerns that the moves could thwart competition in the AI industry. The Competition and Markets Authority said it's looking into Microsoft's partnership with France's Mistral AI and the company's hiring of key staff from
A slew of blue-chip results on both sides of the Atlantic will dominate the corporate news agenda this week, alongside key US economic data set to bolster the case for higher-for-longer interest rates.
European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, who has been looking into Big Tech's partnerships with AI start-ups, met on Friday fast-growing French start-up company Mistral AI and said the sector needs more competition. In February, Microsoft invested $16 million in Mistral AI and partnered with them to make its artificial intelligence models available through its Azure platform. It has also invested in ChatGPT owner OpenAI. Other high-profile AI partnerships include Amazon and Google's...
Big tech share prices were dented by a sector-wide sell-off of risky assets last week, ahead of earnings results for some of the 'Magnificent Seven'.
Nvidia plans to acquire Run:ai, a Kubernetes-based software provider that helps optimize AI apps and workloads on GPUs.