Under the partnership, Anthropic will utilise Amazon Web Services as its main cloud provider. Credit: bluestork / Shutterstock.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has granted clearance for the partnership between Amazon and AI company Anthropic.

In a media release, the competition watchdog confirmed that the $4bn deal does not meet the criteria for a merger investigation.

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The latest development is based on the CMA initiating a merger inquiry into the deal on 8 August 2024.

In the merger inquiry, the UK competition regulator investigated if Amazon’s deal with Anthropic could result in the creation of a relevant merger situation under the Enterprise Act 2002 merger provisions and, if so, whether the creation of such a scenario would result in a significant reduction in competition within any market or markets in the UK for goods or services.

The CMA’s decision is part of a broader international examination of big tech investments in leading startups specialising in generative AI technology.

Despite the scrutiny, the CMA determined that Anthropic’s UK revenue and combined market share with Amazon were insufficiently significant to warrant a detailed investigation.

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Under the partnership, Anthropic will use Amazon Web Services as its main cloud provider.

Amazon’s bespoke chips will also be leveraged by Anthropic for the development, training, and deployment of its AI models.

Amazon was quoted by Bloomberg as saying: “We welcome the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority decision acknowledging its lack of jurisdiction regarding this collaboration.

“By investing in Anthropic, we’re helping to spur entry and competition in generative AI.”

Previous decisions by the British regulator have also favoured big tech collaborations, including the approval of Microsoft‘s partnership with French startup Mistral AI and the employment of key personnel from Inflection AI.

However, the CMA is currently assessing Anthropic’s separate partnership with Google.

Established in 2021 by former OpenAI employees Dario and Daniela Amodei, Anthropic focuses on the enhancement of safety and reliability in AI models.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether such AI deals grant tech giants an unfair edge in the rapidly expanding AI services market.