The authority found that no relevant merger situation had been created as a result of the partnership. Credit: Ascannio/Shutterstock.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared Alphabet‘s partnership and investment in AI company Anthropic, determining that the deal does not meet the criteria for a merger investigation.  

This decision comes after CMA recently initiated a probe into Alphabet’s financial engagements with Anthropic, a developer of large language models and chatbot technology. 

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In 2023, Google, part of Alphabet, committed for investment of $2bn to Anthropic. 

The CMA’s investigation centred on whether the partnership could potentially harm competition within the UK market.  

However, after an assessment, the authority found that no relevant “merger situation” has been created as result of the partnership and therefore does not qualify under the present merger rules.  

CMA scrutiny was particularly focused on Google’s commercial relationship with Anthropic. It covered areas of potential influence including Google’s role as a shareholder or board member through its consultation rights; and its importance as a provider of computing resources, distribution services via Vertex AI, and funding.  

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Moreover, the CMA noted that Anthropic’s turnover in the UK did not exceed the £70m threshold, which further ruled out a merger based on turnover criteria. 

In a press statement, CMA said: “The available evidence did not indicate that Google has the ability to exercise material influence over Anthropic through the Partnership.” 

The CMA’s probe was in response to the broader industry trend where large tech firms acquire stakes in smaller, innovative startups.