Google's multi-billion dollar relationship with Anthropic is under investigation

Alphabet's significant investment in AI firm Anthropic is currently under investigation by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The inquiry focuses on whether the partnership constitutes a "relevant merger situation" that could lead to a "substantial lessening of competition." Google had agreed to invest up to $2 billion in Anthropic last October, which included an initial $500 million and a potential $1.5 billion in future funding. Prior to this investment, Google already held a 10% stake in Anthropic. The company, which competes with Microsoft-backed OpenAI, has also attracted investment from Amazon, which plans to invest up to $4 billion and holds a minority stake. Anthropic recently launched its AI models, including Claude 3, which reportedly outperformed OpenAI's GPT-4 in various tasks. The CMA is actively scrutinizing major tech deals, including Microsoft's acquisition of Inflection AI and Anthropic's partnership with Amazon. Anthropic has stated its commitment to cooperating with the CMA to provide a comprehensive understanding of its relationship with Google. The CMA has opened a comment period until August 13 to gather input before deciding on further investigation.