Investigation Launched on Google’s Partnership with Anthropic

By Martin Coulter
(Reuters) – Britain’s antitrust watchdog has initiated an investigation into Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) regarding its partnership with AI startup Anthropic.

Almost two years following the rise of AI initiated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, global regulators are increasingly concerned about collaborations between major tech firms and smaller startups.

Anthropic, co-founded by former OpenAI executives Dario and Daniela Amodei, had announced a $500 million investment from Alphabet last year, with an additional $1.5 billion investment planned over time.

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been assessing Alphabet’s connection with Anthropic since July, seeking input on whether the partnership could harm competition within the UK.

The CMA has set a deadline of December 19 for its Phase 1 decision, which will determine if the investigation will proceed further.

Alphabet and Anthropic have not yet responded to requests for comment.