The Center for Data Innovation submitted comments to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s principal market competition regulator, on the recent events related to Microsoft and Inflection AI. These comments make three points. First, Microsoft’s non-exclusive licensing of Inflection AI’s model and its hiring of former Inflection AI employees (which the CMA refers to collectively as “the Transaction”) does not meet the criteria set for a “relevant merger situation” as set forth in the Enterprise Act 2002, and thus the CMA should not intervene. Second, even if the CMA believes that the Transaction reaches the threshold to create a relevant merger situation, these activities have not had a negative impact on competition. Third, CMA’s intervention in the hiring of former Inflection AI employees would discourage other companies from competing for talent—an outcome that would be at odds with the goals of antitrust regulators.
Comments to the Competition and Markets Authority Regarding Microsoft and Inflection AI
Daniel Castro
Daniel Castro is the director of the Center for Data Innovation and vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Mr. Castro writes and speaks on a variety of issues related to information technology and internet policy, including data, privacy, security, intellectual property, internet governance, e-government, and accessibility for people with disabilities. His work has been quoted and cited in numerous media outlets, including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, USA Today, Bloomberg News, and Businessweek. In 2013, Mr. Castro was named to FedScoop’s list of “Top 25 most influential people under 40 in government and tech.” In 2015, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker appointed Mr. Castro to the Commerce Data Advisory Council. Mr. Castro previously worked as an IT analyst at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) where he audited IT security and management controls at various government agencies. He contributed to GAO reports on the state of information security at a variety of federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). In addition, Mr. Castro was a Visiting Scientist at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he developed virtual training simulations to provide clients with hands-on training of the latest information security tools. He has a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and an M.S. in Information Security Technology and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.
