March 15th news, this month, the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) officially came into effect. Aimed at curbing anti-competitive practices among tech giants, the legislation is designed to halt malicious competitive behaviors, ensuring consumers have more options.
Companies including Alphabet (Google's parent company), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft have been identified as "gatekeepers," with 22 of their core products and services required to undergo modifications.
Under increasing EU antitrust pressure, Microsoft has pulled a clever move by heaping praise on its competitors, elevating their products to the skies—arguably a tactic to sidestep monopoly accusations.
According to media reports, Microsoft recently responded to an EU inquiry into the current competitive landscape in generative artificial intelligence, stating:
Owing to its vast data reserves and chips optimized specifically for AI, Alphabet's Google holds a competitive edge in generative artificial intelligence.
In a report submitted to the European Commission, Microsoft noted, "As of today, only Google has the capability to vertically integrate, wielding significant strength and independence at every AI level, from chips to app stores, whereas all other companies must rely on partnerships to innovate and compete."
Microsoft highlighted Google's search index and YouTube's extensive proprietary data, enabling easier training of large language models like Gemini. Its in-house AI chips are expected to provide a competitive advantage in the coming years.
Furthermore, Microsoft also claimed that AI voice assistants like Google's Google Assistant and Apple's Siri offer these companies an edge.
