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Enforcement or court caseFrontierComputeUK USConfirmed

CMA finds Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership is not a merger it can review

See how this story connects

Source: Competition and Markets Authority (GOV.UK)Also reported by CMA decision summary (PDF), TechCrunch

The Competition and Markets Authority decided on 5 March 2025 that Microsoft acquired material influence over OpenAI in 2019 but had not gained de facto control, so there was no relevant merger situation under the Enterprise Act 2002. The CMA had invited comment on the partnership from 8 December 2023. It noted that in January 2025 the companies replaced Microsoft’s compute exclusivity with a right of first refusal, while OpenAI API workloads stay exclusive to Microsoft.

Why it matters

Large investments by cloud providers in AI labs escaped UK merger review in this case, because the CMA found influence short of control.

When
5 Mar 2025
ID
WTA-N-2025-0152
Who
Competition and Markets Authority, Microsoft, OpenAI
Authority
Competition and Markets Authority
Target
Microsoft; OpenAI
Action
decision: no relevant merger
Status
closed · Enforcement ledger

Summary by wheresthe.ai, from Competition and Markets Authority (GOV.UK) and the reporting credited above. Checked against the source on 9 Oct 2026.

Read the original at Competition and Markets Authority (GOV.UK)

Source copy: download the page as saved on 18 Oct 2026 (PDF). Documents the source offers: document 1 (PDF), document 2 (PDF), document 3 (PDF). Also held by the Internet Archive.

Earlier in this Storyline: What led hereCMA proposes seven principles for competition in AI foundation models

Cite this story

WTA-N-2025-0152: “CMA finds Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership is not a merger it can review.” wheresthe.ai, 5 Mar 2025. https://wheresthe.ai/d/gb-cma-microsoft-openai-no-merger-2025-03/ (source: Competition and Markets Authority (GOV.UK)).

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