The UK's competition watchdog is to review whether Microsoft's high-value partnership with OpenAI could be considered as a merger.

The Competition and Markets Authority is examining whether Microsoft's work with the artificial intelligence firm could affect the AI market overall.

Microsoft owns 49% of the firm and has pledged to invest billions into it.

Responding to the review, Microsoft said it had "preserved independence" for both companies.

The companies' work together has come under the spotlight after OpenAI, best known as the creator of ChatGPT, was plunged into chaos when its boss Sam Altman was suddenly fired.

After Mr Altman's sacking by the OpenAI board, Microsoft then offered him a job leading a new advanced AI research team, before he was reinstated at OpenAI.

During the drama, a spotlight was cast on how commercial competition is shaping the development of AI systems and the pace at which the technology is moving.

The CMA said that it was asking for comments, partly "in light of these developments".

The watchdog is questioning whether the partnership has resulted in an "acquisition of control", whether an effective merger has taken place and if this could impact on competition in the UK.

It has asked third parties for their comments on the tie-up and could launch a probe if it felt it was necessary.

Sorcha O'Carroll, senior director for mergers at the CMA, said: "The invitation to comment is the first part of the CMA's information gathering process and comes in advance of launching any phase 1 investigation, which would only happen once the CMA has received the information it needs from the partnership parties."

In response to the announcement, Microsoft said that its partnership with OpenAI has "fostered more AI innovation and competition".

Vice chair and president of Microsoft Brad Smith said that the only thing that has changed is that it "will now have a non-voting observer on OpenAI's board".

He added that the tech giant, which also came under scrutiny from regulators over its acquisition of Call of Duty Maker Activision Blizzard, will work closely with the CMA to provide all the information that it needs.

Mr Smith has previously denied that the recent drama witnessed at OpenAI was due to concerns around the safety of the technology being developed.

Fears that AI was going to overtake humans in the next year were unfounded, he said recently during an event in London.

"There's absolutely no probability that you're going to see this so called artificial general intelligence where computers are more powerful than people come in the next 12 months. It's going to take years, if not many decades."

Mr Altman was a co-founder of OpenAI and became the face of its ground-breaking chatbot ChatGPT after it launched last year.

He secured a significant funding boost to the tune of $13bn (£10bn) from Microsoft, which helped catapult the business.