Microsoft Vows Fair AI Practices Amid Antitrust Scrutiny – MWC 2024

Microsoft has published a series of AI principles in a bid to promote innovation and the ethical development of AI, as antitrust regulators probe its market power.

Unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2024, the 11 AI Access Principles show the company’s commitment to enabling AI innovation and fostering competition.

Among them are vows to make AI models and development tools available to developers and also avoid using non-public information in Azure to train its own systems.

One key promise could affect its own business: Microsoft said it would make it easy for users to export and transfer their data to a rival cloud provider should they choose to do so.

Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a company blog post that the principles sought to address Microsoft’s “growing role and responsibility as an AI innovator and a market leader.”

“By publishing these principles, we are committing ourselves to providing the broad technology access needed to empower organizations and individuals around the world to develop and use AI in ways that will serve the public good.”

Credit: Microsoft

The publication of Microsoft’s Access Principles comes as antitrust regulators begin probes into its market power in the AI space.

The Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. and the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority have both commenced investigations into Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI and its potential impact on market dynamics.

Related:FTC Opens Probe into OpenAI, Anthropic and Cloud Partners

The EU also is probing Microsoft's new alliance with Mistral AI. Microsoft took a small stake in the French startup this week but authorities could sink the deal if a formal investigation arises.