The Competition and Markets Authority said the link-up between the firms does not qualify for investigation under rules around mergers.

The watchdog concluded that the partnership does not warrant an investigation under the country’s anticompetitive practices law.

The U.K.'s competition authority says Microsoft's OpenAI partnership doesn't qualify for investigation under the country's anticompetitive practices law.

The Competition and Markets Authority has ruled that the relationship between the two companies “does not qualify for investigation” under merger rules. The CMA said in 2023 that it was assessing whether Microsoft’s $13 billion investment into the AI startup gave it de facto control over OpenAI policy.

Microsoft Corp.’s $13 billion investment into OpenAI Inc. was cleared by the UK’s antitrust watchdog, ending months of uncertainty over the tie-up.

Looking at the evidence in the round (including the recent changes), we have found that there has not been a change of control by Microsoft from material influence to de facto control over OpenAI'

Changing nature of the relationship between the two might have been ‘just the lever the CMA needed to close the investigation’ says analyst.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced today that it has closed its investigation of the Microsoft/OpenAI partnership.