The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an antitrust investigation into Amazon's $4 billion investment in the AI firm Anthropic. Starting the investigation comes soon after the CMA's solicitation for comments on Google's connections to the same company, a relationship marked by Google's $300 million initial investment, followed by another $2 billion.
Anthropic, founded in 2021 and headquartered in San Francisco, focuses on large language models and offers a conversational AI called Claude. The firm has raised $10 billion in total funding, making it a notable rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini platforms.
Big Tech's AI Investments Under Scrutiny
The influx of investments in AI from major tech entities is under increasing regulatory inspection. These companies frequently opt for heavy investments or hiring from startups to avoid direct acquisitions. The CMA's probe of Amazon's financial involvement in Anthropic embodies this wider scrutiny.
Earlier this year in April, the CMA revealed preliminary inquiries into multiple Big Tech deals, including Microsoft's investment in Mistral AI, a French startup. While the Mistral deal didn't necessitate extended examination due to its scale, Microsoft's acquisition of the core team behind Inflection AI warranted further attention.
Amazon and Anthropic were also part of these early-stage reviews. The CMA is now moving to a formal phase 1 investigation to determine within 40 working days if Amazon's investment falls under merger rules and if it might negatively impact competition in the U.K.
Anthropic's Position
An Anthropic representative stated that the strategic alliances and investments do not interfere with their autonomy or ability to partner with other enterprises. “We are independent,” the spokesperson said. “Amazon lacks both a board seat and observer rights. We will work with the CMA to explain Amazon's investment and our business relationship.”
The CMA aims to decide by early October whether to approve the deal outright or to escalate the review.
