- UK’s antitrust watchdog is reviewing Alphabet’s partnership with Anthropic, examining its potential effects on the competitive landscape.
- In a recent joint statement, the CMA, along with US and EU counterparts, promised to collaborate to ensure fair competition within the AI sector.
OUR TAKE
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently launched a review of the partnership between Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and artificial intelligence startup Anthropic to assess its impact on competition in the market. This review not only concerns the health of the AI industry, but also raises new thoughts about the mode of co-operation between global tech giants and start-ups.
–Elodie Qian, BTW reporter
What happened
Britain’s antitrust watchdog is reviewing Alphabet’s partnership with the AI startup Anthropic, examining its potential effects on the competitive landscape, the regulator said on Tuesday. This comes over a year and a half after OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, sparked an AI revolution with the release of ChatGPT, prompting antitrust regulators globally to monitor the collaborations between industry giants and smaller startups.
Among the scrutinised deals are Microsoft’s alliances with OpenAI, Inflection AI, and Mistral AI, as well as Alphabet’s connections with smaller entities such as Anthropic and Cohere. Anthropic’s Claude AI models are in contention with OpenAI’s GPT series for prominence in the AI market.
In a recent joint statement, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), along with US and EU counterparts, promised to collaborate to ensure fair competition within the AI sector. The CMA is now seeking public views on the Alphabet-Anthropic partnership, questioning whether it could reduce competition in the UK, with a comment deadline set for August 13.
Also read: Anthropic launches Claude on Android
Also read: Google-Backed Anthropic Secures $100 Million Investment from SK Telecom
Why it’s important
Anthropic, co-founded by Dario and Daniela Amodei, former executives of OpenAI, secured an investment of $500 million from Alphabet last year, with a commitment for an additional $1.5 billion. The company also utilises Google Cloud services as part of its operations.
A spokesperson for Anthropic has stated, “We are an independent company, and our strategic partnerships or investor relationships do not diminish our corporate governance independence or our freedom to partner with others. We will cooperate fully with the CMA and provide a complete picture of our collaboration with Google.”
Earlier this month, Microsoft decided to relinquish its observer seat on OpenAI’s board in an effort to quell regulatory pressure. But the CMA also said in April that it was also investigating Microsoft’s partnership with French AI firm Mistral, Amazon’s relationship with Anthropic, and Microsoft’s hiring of Inflection AI employees.
A Google representative has clarified, “Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world. Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers, and we do not demand exclusive technology rights.”
The CMA will determine whether to initiate an official investigation based on the feedback received.
