The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an early-stage investigation into Google’s substantial investment in Anthropic, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup.
Google has invested around $2.3 billion in Anthropic through several funding rounds.
The CMA is seeking feedback from stakeholders to determine if this investment could be considered a merger and if it might reduce competition in the UK.
Anthropic, founded in 2021 in San Francisco, is known for developing safe and transparent AI systems and has raised nearly $10 billion, with significant investments from both Google and Amazon.
There are concerns that major tech companies might use investments in startups to gain control without full acquisitions, potentially avoiding regulatory scrutiny.
The CMA is also examining similar investments by other tech giants, including Microsoft’s funding of Mistral AI and its partnership with OpenAI, as well as Amazon’s involvement with Anthropic.
Stakeholders have until August 13, 2024, to provide comments to the CMA.
The decision to proceed to a formal investigation will depend on whether Google’s investment is seen as granting significant control over Anthropic.
Both Anthropic and Google have affirmed their commitment to maintaining independence and transparency, with Google noting that Anthropic remains free to use various cloud providers.
