Microsoft’s multi-year partnership with French AI startup Mistral AI is now under scrutiny from the European Union as part of the bloc’s broader efforts to look into the impact of agreements between“large digital market players and generative AI developers and providers,” on competition in the European market.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has “received the mentioned agreement, which we will analyse,” Lea Zuber, a Commission spokesperson said in a statement shared with Quartz.
Microsoft and Mistral AI said Monday that the partnership is focused on commercializing the startup’s flagship models, which will be available on Microsoft’s Azure AI platform, giving Mistral AI more opportunity to promote and distribute its models around the world.
“We’ve made a €15M EUR ($16.3 million) investment in Mistral AI which would convert into equity in Mistral’s next funding round,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement shared with Quartz. The 10-month-old startup reached a $2 billion valuation after its latest funding round in December. Mistral AI did not immediately respond to Quartz’s request for comment.
The Commission is already reviewing Microsoft’s partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, which was announced last year, and is an investment worth more than $10 billion.
“Virtual worlds and generative AI are rapidly developing,” Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president and commissioner for competition said about Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI. “It is fundamental that these new markets stay competitive, and that nothing stands in the way of businesses growing and providing the best and most innovative products to consumers. We are inviting businesses and experts to tell us about any competition issues that they may perceive in these industries, whilst also closely monitoring AI partnerships to ensure they do not unduly distort market dynamics.”
The UK’s antitrust watchdog is also looking into Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI. The Competition and Markets Authority will make a determination as to whether one party in the partnership has more than 50% of voting rights over the other, Politico reported.