(CTN News) – The UK antitrust agency has revealed that Google’s partnership with Anthropic is under investigation. This comes after multiple rounds of investments made by the Alphabet unit in its American AI rival.
Before making a final decision on whether the partnership “has resulted in the creation of a relevant merger situation” and whether this will cause a “substantial lessening of competition” in the United Kingdom, the Google Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is inviting stakeholders and other “interested parties” to comment.
This is true even though the inquiry hasn’t advanced to the point where it’s ready to be called an official one.
Developing artificial intelligence (AI) systems was the goal of Anthropic’s establishment in San Francisco in 2021. To set itself apart from its rivals, the company has made safety, transparency, and risk minimisation a priority.
To further this goal, it became a public benefit corporation (PBC). Anthropic is the company that creates these large language models (LLMs) and the related chatbot Claude. Claude is comparable to a chatbot like Google’s Bard or OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Google Anthropic has raised $10 billion in the past few years.
The initial contribution came from Google, which reportedly gave $300 million at the start of the previous year. Another $2 billion was reportedly invested.
Anthropic has also been aggressively pursuing other well-known investors; among them is Amazon, which has contributed $4 billion to the fledgling artificial intelligence company.
Regulators are concerned that big tech companies are implementing a new mergers and acquisitions strategy that aims to give them some control over younger innovators without drawing the regulatory attention that a full-fledged acquisition might.
All of this activity has prompted regulators to take action. This so-called “quasi-merger” might entail tactics like hiring technical talent and company founders or making strategic investments.
Questions and Probes
Microsoft’s recent investment in the French startup Mistral AI was one of several such transactions that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in April it was looking into.
But because of the size of the investment, the CMA quickly concluded that this specific transaction did not fit the requirements for examination under the current merger legislation. Furthermore, the CMA is looking into the relationships between Amazon and Anthropic.
It is also expected to start a thorough probe into Microsoft’s close relationship with OpenAI, the firm that creates ChatGPT.
Furthermore, earlier this month, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) disclosed that it will be starting a thorough regulatory probe against Microsoft.
This comes after Microsoft, which had previously invested in Inflection AI, a competitor of OpenAI, hired the main team of that company.
You can now Google CMA input until August 13, 2024;
However, there is no guarantee that the regulatory agency will take the case further to a formal “phase 1” examination. It’s possible that Google’s newfound interest in the company will ultimately influence this choice.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) may decide to rule it invalid, much as it did with Microsoft’s investment in Mistral AI, if it turns out that it is a minority investment that gives Google no appreciable control over the firm.
Anthropic provided TechCrunch with a statement through a spokesperson. The press release said, “We intend to cooperate with the CMA and provide them with the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
Since we are an independent business, none of the strategic alliances or investor relationships we have jeopardise our corporate governance independence or our capacity to work with other businesses.
Anthropic’s independence is a core characteristic that is necessary to achieve both our goal of serving the public good and our capacity to serve clients at the time and place that works best for them.
Furthermore, according to a Google spokesperson, the business is “committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world” and that the arrangement does not mandate Anthropic’s usage of Google Cloud.
According to the spokesperson, “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does so, and we do not demand exclusive technology rights.”
SOURCE: TCN
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Salman Ahmad is known for his significant contributions to esteemed publications like the Times of India and the Express Tribune. Salman has carved a niche as a freelance journalist, combining thorough research with engaging reporting.
