Microsoft formulates “access to AI principles”, promising not to monopolize the market

Microsoft President, Brad Smith, has announced a set of principles designed to foster innovation and competition in artificial intelligence (AI). This move by the tech giant is positioned as a response to competitors and antitrust regulators’ concerns over Microsoft’s market dominance, fueled by its successful partnership with OpenAI, a pioneer in advancing generative AI.

Last year, Microsoft integrated AI tools into all its core products, attracting business clients seeking to keep pace with advances. The newly introduced “Principles of access to artificial intelligence” promise access and support to AI developers, extensive dissemination of AI models and development tools globally, and provision of public Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). These APIs allow developers to access AI models and utilize them in Microsoft Azure.

“As we enter a new era based on artificial intelligence, it is the perfect time to articulate principles that will define how we will manage our AI data center infrastructure and other vital AI assets across the globe,” Smith stated at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

Microsoft commits not to use proprietary information or developer data obtained from creating and deploying AI models in Microsoft Azure to compete with these models. It also guarantees Microsoft Azure customers an easy data export and migration to another cloud service provider.

These “Principles of access to artificial intelligence” mark an effort to increase Microsoft’s accountability as a trailblazer in the field of AI and a market leader. “By publishing these, we are committing to providing wide access to technologies that enable organizations and individuals worldwide to develop and use AI in ways that serve public good,” Smith added.