UK Approves Amazon’s AI Partnership with Anthropic, Reports Reuters

Britain’s competition regulator announced on Friday that it will not conduct a deeper investigation into Amazon’s artificial intelligence partnership with startup Anthropic, as it does not fall under its jurisdiction.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stated that the partnership, which features a substantial $4 billion investment by Amazon in Anthropic, does not meet the criteria for investigation under UK merger regulations.

In response to the CMA’s decision, an Amazon spokesperson expressed approval, highlighting the regulator’s acknowledgment of its lack of jurisdiction regarding the collaboration.

The CMA also approved a similar partnership between Microsoft and Inflection AI. However, Alphabet’s collaboration with Anthropic remains under review.

An Anthropic spokesperson indicated that the company’s strategic partnerships and investment ties do not affect its governance independence or its ability to collaborate with other entities. Anthropic, co-founded by former OpenAI executives Dario and Daniela Amodei, has attracted significant investments from various tech giants.

Concerns over deals between smaller startups and large tech companies have been rising among antitrust regulators worldwide.

(Note: The original article has been clarified, omitting previous mentions of competition concerns.)