The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Amazon’s multibillion-dollar investment in the artificial intelligence firm Anthropic. The regulator is conducting a Phase 1 investigation to determine if the deal may harm competition in the U.K. Amazon invested $4 billion in Anthropic, making its powerful large language models available on Amazon’s platform. The CMA has up to 40 working days to decide if the transaction should undergo a Phase 2 investigation. Amazon has stated that the collaboration with Anthropic does not raise any competition concerns, and Anthropic remains independent with the freedom to partner with other companies. The CMA is also scrutinizing Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI, but has not yet decided to begin a formal investigation. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission has requested information from tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google regarding their recent investments and partnerships in AI firms. Some smaller tech companies have criticized Big Tech’s strategy of acquiring stakes in AI startups, with concerns that success in the field may require more than just financial investments and data acquisition. CEO Matt Calkins of Appian emphasized the importance of innovation and the uniqueness of AI algorithms tailored to specific purposes, suggesting that the AI market may not be a “winner take all” environment.
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Anthropic’s AI firm faces UK merger investigation following Amazon’s $4 billion investment
