UK regulators scrutinize Google parent's partnership with AI startup Anthropic

Britain's antitrust watchdog is scrutinising Google-parent Alphabet's partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic and its impact on competition, the regulator said on Tuesday.

More than 18 months after Microsoft-backed OpenAI triggered an AI boom with the release of ChatGPT, antitrust regulators around the world have been increasingly concerned by multiple deals struck between smaller industry startups and big tech giants.

Agreements under scrutiny include Microsoft's partnerships with startups such as OpenAI, Inflection AI, and Mistral AI, as well as Alphabet's ties to other smaller companies such as Anthropic and Cohere.

Anthropic's Claude AI models have vied for prominence with OpenAI's GPT series.

Last week, Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a joint statement alongside its counterparts in the United States and the European Union, promising to work together to safeguard fair competition in the AI industry.

Anthropic, which was co-founded by former OpenAI executives and siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, last year said it had secured $500 million in investment from Alphabet, promising another $1.5 billion over time.

On Tuesday, the CMA said it was now seeking views on whether the Alphabet-Anthropic partnership could lessen competition in the UK, and has set a deadline of Aug. 13 for its invitation to comment.

The body will decide whether to launch an official investigation at the end of this process.

Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Anthropic declined to comment.