(Reuters) – Google has asked the U.S. government to break Microsoft’s exclusive agreement to host OpenAI’s technology on its cloud servers, Information said on Tuesday.
The conversation took place after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission asked Google about Microsoft’s business practices as part of a broader investigation, the report said, citing a person directly involved in the discussion.
Technology companies that compete with Microsoft in renting out cloud servers, such as Google and Amazon, also want to host OpenAI’s models so that their cloud customers don’t need to access Microsoft servers to access the startup’s technology, the report said.
According to the report, companies that purchase ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s technology through Microsoft may face additional costs if they are not already using Microsoft servers to run their operations.
Google and other competitors have emphasized that these new charges will hurt customers, the report said.
Microsoft, Google, OpenAI and the FTC did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
(Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Alan Barona)
