The Competition and Markets Authority has launched a preliminary investigation into a partnership between Google and artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, marking the latest in a series of probes into deals between big tech companies and smaller AI firms.
Google has invested $2 billion (about £1.56 billion) in Anthropic in 2023, shortly after signing a cloud computing deal with the startup, which develops Claude LLM and the chatbot.
The CMA is now considering whether the partnership has “resulted in the creation of a relevant merger situation” that would allow it to launch a formal investigation. The CMA is inviting comments over the next two weeks.
The move comes amid broader concerns about competition in the generative AI sector. The CMA is also investigating a deal between Amazon and Anthropic as a potential merger after Amazon took a $4 billion stake in the company and signed a deal to become one of the startup’s cloud computing providers.
The CMA has launched similar investigations into OpenAI and Microsoft after the latter acquired a substantial stake in the ChatGPT maker’s for-profit division, and into Microsoft and AI startup Inflection after the tech giant hired the startup’s founder and leadership team along with signing an access agreement for the company’s AI models.
Another investigation into a deal between Microsoft and French artificial intelligence startup Mistral was dropped in May.
Regulators are concerned about the concentration of power in the hands of big tech, meaning direct takeovers are rarely attempted, particularly in competitive sectors such as artificial intelligence. But the CMA is keeping a close eye on deals that could hamper competition in other ways.
An Anthropic spokesperson denied the partnership was a merger. “We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” the company said.
A Google spokesperson said the company is “committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world.”
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They added: “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does so, and we do not require exclusive technology rights.”
