Amazon’s $4 billion investment and partnership in AI startup Anthropic is under scrutiny by UK competition regulators.
Competition and Markets Authority The CMA said on Thursday it had launched an initial investigation into the deal, which could lead to approval or the launch of a more thorough investigation.
The move comes just days after the Commission launched similar measures against Anthropic, the developer of ChatGPT’s main rival chatbot, Claude, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet.
The CMA is currently considering whether merger circumstances have arisen as a result of the partnership with the global e-commerce giant and is due to make a “stage one” decision by October 4.
A spokesperson for the American multinational strongly denied the need for a review, insisting that the business relationship does not raise competitive concerns, saying: “Amazon has no board seat or decision-making power at Anthropic, and Anthropic is free to work with any other provider (indeed, it has several partners).”
The AI research company also expressed a similar view, taking a firm stance on its business operations in a statement, saying, “Our strategic partnerships and relationships with investors do not compromise the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others.”
Anthropic said it would meet with the CMA to be fully transparent about its relationship with Amazon and would cooperate with the investigation.
The CMA has announced that it will open a stage one merger investigation into Amazon’s minority investment in AI company Anthropic, meaning that it considers it to amount to an acquisition. "Material Influences" May have a negative impact on competition https://t.co/zpKaQNfDEE pic.twitter.com/GBNnqVBDJ1
Kay Jebel 
(@KayJebelli) August 8, 2024
Why is the CMA pursuing these investigations?
A $4 billion deal was confirmed in March, with Amazon investing in Anthropic and a mutual agreement for the AI startup to use Amazon Web Services as its primary cloud provider.
The CMA has powers to take action against anti-competitive behaviour in the UK, and it is concerned that the power and influence of big tech companies, disguised as investment or collaboration, could be exerted over smaller, less established AI companies.
Other notable cases include Microsoft’s ties with AI companies Inflexion and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, while the CMA has closed a similar investigation into the US tech giant’s ties with French company Mistral.
Image credit: Ideogram
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