Google has asked the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to put an end to Microsoft's exclusive agreement with OpenAI.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has written a letter to the Inspector General of the FTC requesting it investigate whether the FTC has been improperly leaking confidential information pertaining to the recently announced antitrust investigation into Microsoft's business practices.

As reported by The Information, Google has requested that the FTC put an end to Microsoft's exclusive agreement with OpenAI to host the company's technology on its cloud servers.

This happened following a conversation in which the FTC asked Google about Microsoft's business practices, The Information reported, citing a person "directly involved."

Currently, companies that purchase OpenAI's technology through Microsoft may have to pay extra if they don't use Microsoft servers to run their technology. By getting rid of the exclusivity agreement, other cloud providers would also be able to host OpenAI's services, opening up the offering to customers.

Google declined to respond to The Information. DCD has contacted those involved for comment. The FTC declined to comment.

Earlier this month, Microsoft's corporate vice president and deputy general counsel in its competition and market regulation group, Rima Alaily, sent a letter to Andrew Katsaros, the Inspector General of the FTC, requesting that it look into the FTC's conduct regarding the antitrust investigation.

In the letter, Alaily requests that Katsaros investigate whether the FTC management "improperly leaked" confidential information about the investigation to the press.

Referring to a Bloomberg News report, Alaily noted that the press reported on the antitrust investigation and mentioned an information demand issued to Microsoft that was "hundreds of pages long," sourcing "people familiar with the information request." Alaily argues that this suggests the information came from within the FTC itself.

Alaily goes on to say that, at the time of writing the letter, Microsoft itself still had not received the information request document.

Reports that the FTC was conducting an investigation into Microsoft emerged in November 2024.

The letter further mentions that leaks from the FTC to the press have been "steadily increasing" under Chair Khan's watch.

According to Alaily, Microsoft learned of the request from the Bloomberg article itself, and at the time of writing had not received any formal legal process from the FTC, nor confirmation when Microsoft then called to inquire.

DCD has also reached out to Microsoft and the FTC regarding this matter. The FTC declined to comment.

Update - Microsoft declined to comment regarding both matters.