The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued orders to five companies on Jan. 25 requiring them to provide information regarding three separate multibillion-dollar investments — Microsoft and OpenAI, Amazon and Anthropic, and Google and Anthropic — and the potential impact on competition.

The orders were sent as an investigation based on 6(b) of the FTC Act, which authorizes the commission to conduct studies that allows it to better understand the investments and partnerships formed between generative AI developers and cloud service providers. 

The FTC is seeking information specifically related to:

• Information regarding a specific investment or partnership, including agreements and the strategic rationale of an investment/partnership.
• The practical implications of a specific partnership or investment, including decisions around new product releases, governance or oversight rights, and the topic of regular meetings.
• Analysis of the transactions’ competitive impact, including information related to market share, competition, competitors, markets, potential for sales growth, or expansion into product or geographic markets.
• Competition for AI inputs and resources, including the competitive dynamics regarding key products and services needed for generative AI.
• Information provided to any other government entity, including foreign government entities, in connection with any investigation, request for information, or other inquiry related to these topics.

A copy of the orders can be found here.

Joseph "Joe" Damon, Leslie Green, Jackson Parese, Marc Jenkins, Jack Pringle, Michael J. Halaiko, and Alexandra P. Moylan contributed to this article.