Alphabet's Investment in Anthropic Under Scrutiny by UK Competition Regulator.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a formal investigation into Alphabet's investment in AI company Anthropic. This probe follows the CMA's earlier invitation for comments on Alphabet's investments in Anthropic, which reportedly totaled $2.3 billion. The investigation is part of a broader effort to examine "quasi-mergers" where large tech companies gain control of innovative startups through strategic investments and talent acquisition.

While the CMA previously concluded it couldn't investigate Amazon's $4 billion investment in Anthropic under current merger rules, the decision to investigate Alphabet's investment suggests different terms or potential competitive impacts. Google, an Alphabet subsidiary, stated that Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and that they don't demand exclusive tech rights.

The CMA expects to decide by December 19, 2024, whether to refer the case to a more in-depth "phase 2" investigation.

Report by TechCrunch