UK Watchdog Approves Google's Anthropic Partnership

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved Alphabet Inc.'s partnership with AI startup Anthropic, concluding that it does not qualify for investigation under merger regulations. The CMA determined that Alphabet has not acquired material influence over Anthropic, which has a UK turnover under £70 million, thus not meeting the criteria for a relevant merger situation. This follows a previous investigation initiated in July that assessed potential impacts on competition, but the CMA found no grounds for concern. Alphabet has previously invested a total of $2.3 billion in Anthropic, a company developing large language models and a chatbot named Claude. The CMA had made similar conclusions regarding Anthropic's partnership with Amazon in September, indicating a broader scrutiny of Big Tech's investments in startups. The decision reflects a growing trend of major tech companies seeking strategic partnerships with innovative firms without triggering regulatory concerns.