UK’s CMA Launches Merger Inquiry Into Amazon Partnership With Anthropic

Amazon’s partnership with artificial intelligence company Anthropic is being investigated by the United Kingdom’s competition and markets regulator.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a merger inquiry after collecting comments in April and May on whether the partnership could result in a lessening of competition in the market, according to a Thursday (Aug. 8) update.

The CMA said in a commencement notice that it has sufficient information to begin an investigation to decide whether it should advance to a “phase 2 investigation.”

The regulator will announce that decision by Oct. 4, according to the notice.

An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement provided to PYMNTS that the company is “disappointed” that the CMA did not end its probe, adding that the company’s collaboration with Anthropic does not raise competition concerns and that Anthropic is working to become a viable alternative in a generative AI market that is currently dominated by one company.

“By investing in Anthropic, Amazon, along with other companies, is helping Anthropic expand choice and competition in this important technology,” the statement said.

Anthropic said in a statement provided to PYMNTS that Amazon does not have a seat on the company’s board and that Anthropic will cooperate with the CMA to provide it with a “comprehensive understanding” of the investment and the collaboration.

“We are an independent company,” the Anthropic statement said. “Our strategic partnerships and investor relationships do not diminish our corporate governance independence or our freedom to partner with others.”

Amazon said in March that it made a total investment of $4 billion in Anthropic, with an initial investment of $1.25 billion in September 2023 followed by an additional $2.75 billion investment in March.

The CMA asked for input from stakeholders in April about whether this investment and other Big Tech partnerships with AI companies should be classified as mergers.

Joel Bamford, executive director of mergers at CMA, said in an April press release that “fair and effective competition in Foundation Model markets is critical to making sure the full benefits of this transformation are realized by people and businesses in the U.K., as well as our wider economy where technology has a huge role to play in growth and productivity.”

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