Regulators in the United Kingdom are closely monitoring the local artificial intelligence (AI) sector as major tech companies continue to exert their dominance.
On April 24, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it is gathering information from key players in the market to assess whether the growing collaboration between Amazon.com and AI developer Anthropic poses a threat to local competition.
In September 2023, Amazon revealed its plan to invest $4 billion in Anthropic, with the aim of supporting the development of high-performing foundation models. By March 2024, Amazon had fulfilled its investment commitment, acquiring a minority stake in Anthropic and implementing AWS as the company’s cloud service provider.
Both Amazon and Anthropic now face the possibility of an in-depth antitrust investigation by U.K. regulators. This announcement comes just a week after the CMA highlighted the “interconnected web” of deals and partnerships among Big Tech companies in the market.
Furthermore, the CMA has stated that it will also examine the partnership between Microsoft and Mistral AI, a leading AI startup in Europe. This investigation is in addition to the ongoing probe into Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar collaboration with OpenAI, which was launched in December 2023.
Joel Bamford, the CMA’s executive director of mergers, commented on these developments, expressing the need for thorough scrutiny:
However, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella defended the company’s partnership with OpenAI earlier in January, describing it as “pro-competition.” Nadella emphasized the importance of partnerships in fostering competition within the AI space and countering the dominance of integrated players.
The CMA’s increased scrutiny comes after its investigation revealed a pattern of Big Tech companies channeling funds into AI firms, potentially enabling them to shape markets and raise concerns about competition. The agency is determined to avoid repeating past mistakes that have led to the emergence of dominant platforms.
Nevertheless, companies like Microsoft and Google are investing billions of dollars in AI development across various countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Germany, and France.
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