Microsoft, Amazon face scrutiny from watchdog

LONDON >> British competition regulators said Wednesday they’ll scrutinize recent artificial intelligence deals by Microsoft and Amazon over concerns that the moves could thwart competition in the AI industry.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it’s looking into Microsoft’s partnership with France’s Mistral AI and the company’s hiring of key staff from another startup, Inflection AI.

The watchdog also separately announced that it’s investigating Amazon’s $4 billion investment in San Francisco-based Anthropic.

Big Tech companies have been pouring money into generative AI startups amid growing public and business interest in the technology, but the investments have also drawn attention from antitrust authorities.

The U.K. watchdog said it was seeking comments from “interested third parties,” before deciding whether to carry out an in-depth antitrust investigation.

“We will assess, objectively and impartially, whether each of these three deals fall within U.K. merger rules and, if they do, whether they have any impact on competition in the U.K.,” the watchdog’s executive director of mergers, Joel Bamford, said in a statement.

Microsoft said it will provide the watchdog with the information it needs to carry out its inquiries.

“We remain confident that common business practices such as the hiring of talent or making a fractional investment in an AI start-up promote competition and are not the same as a merger,” the company said.