UK's CMA starts probe into Amazon Anthropic deal

Britain’s competition regulator said it had started a formal inquiry into Amazon’s investment in artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it now had enough information about Amazon’s partnership with the company to begin an investigation. It will then decide whether to refer the matter for an in-depth “Phase 2” probe by October 4.

Anthropic, which makes the ‘Claude’ AI software said it would “cooperate with the CMA”.

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

Amazon invested $4bn in Anthropic and took a minority stake in the company in March. The CMA in April said it was seeking views on what it regarded as potentially anti-competitive behaviour.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com