GOOGLE’S partnership with AI firm Anthropic has avoided further scrutiny after the UK antitrust watchdog concluded it doesn’t qualify for a full blown investigation under merger rules.
Google has not gained “material influence” over Anthropic as a result of the deal, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Tuesday (Nov 19). The agency started looking at the partnership after Alphabet’s Google pledged to invest US$2 billion into the startup last year. Prior to the financing, Google also signed a cloud agreement with Anthropic.
The CMA has been at the forefront of attempts by global regulators to ensure Big Tech’s bets into the AI industry don’t distort the market or lead to a handful of all-powerful firms. The UK agency voiced its concerns about what it called an “interconnected web” of partnerships and investments in the AI ecosystem.
While Amazon.com’s own US$4 billion investment into Anthropic was cleared in September, Microsoft’s investment into its OpenAI is still under the CMA’s scrutiny. The watchdog also cleared Microsoft’s Mistral and Inflection deals after relatively quick investigations.
Tuesday’s decision will come as a relief to Mountain View, California-based Alphabet as multiple antitrust cases pile up in Europe and the US – including one that threatens to force Google to sell off its Chrome browser.
Google’s investment into the US-based public benefit corporation, which specialises in artificial intelligence safety and research, included gaining non-voting shares and certain consultation rights on significant business issues.
The CMA reviewed significant volume of internal documents of the two companies and concluded that Google did not have the ability to exercise material influence over Anthropic through the partnership, it said.
“Anthropic is an independent company and our strategic partnerships and investor relationships do not diminish our corporate governance independence or our freedom to partner with others,,” Anthropic’s spokesperson said after the CMA announcement.
Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. It previously said Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and that it doesn’t demand exclusive tech rights. BLOOMBERG
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