The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has initiated a formal antitrust investigation into Amazon’s recent $4 billion investment in the AI startup Anthropic.
This move follows the CMA’s previous announcement of an inquiry into Google’s own $2.3 billion investment in the same startup.
Anthropic, a San Francisco-based AI company founded in 2021, focuses on developing large language models and its chatbot, Claude, which competes with products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. The company has attracted significant funding, totaling $10 billion in its brief history.
The CMA’s investigation into Amazon’s investment reflects broader concerns about how major tech firms are acquiring influence over emerging AI innovators. There is growing scrutiny over whether these investments, which avoid the regulatory hurdles of full acquisitions, may still harm competition.
The CMA is also expected to probe Microsoft’s close partnership with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, following significant investments by Microsoft in recent years. Additionally, the regulator had previously explored similar high-profile deals, such as Microsoft’s investment in French startup Mistral AI and its acquisition of the team behind OpenAI rival Inflection AI.
The current phase of the investigation will determine if Amazon’s investment in Anthropic, which Amazon asserts does not grant it a majority stake or board control, constitutes a merger under UK regulations. The CMA has until early October to decide whether to approve the deal or proceed with a more detailed investigation.
An Anthropic spokesperson emphasized the company’s independence, stating that Amazon does not hold any board seats or observer rights. The spokesperson assured that Anthropic will fully cooperate with the CMA to clarify the nature of the investment and its implications.
