British competition regulators said Wednesday they'll scrutinize recent artificial intelligence deals by Microsoft and Amazon over concerns that the moves could thwart competition in the AI industry.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it's looking into Microsoft's partnership with France's Mistral AI and the company's hiring of key staff from another startup, Inflection AI. The watchdog also separately announced that it's investigating Amazon's US$4 billion investment in San Francisco-based Anthropic.
Big Tech companies have been pouring money into generative AI startups amid growing public and business interest in the technology, but the investments have also drawn attention from antitrust authorities.
The U.K. watchdog said it was seeking comments from "interested third parties," before deciding whether to carry out an in-depth antitrust investigation.
"We will assess, objectively and impartially, whether each of these three deals fall within U.K. merger rules and, if they do, whether they have any impact on competition in the U.K.," the watchdog's executive director of mergers, Joel Bamford, said in a statement.
Microsoft said it will provide the watchdog with the information it needs to carry out its inquiries.
"We remain confident that common business practices such as the hiring of talent or making a fractional investment in an AI start up promote competition and are not the same as a merger," the company said.
Microsoft last month hired Mustafa Suleyman, who co-founded Google's DeepMind AI research lab, to head up its consumer artificial intelligence business, along with the chief scientist and several top engineers and researchers from Inflection, his AI startup.
Microsoft also teamed up earlier this year with Mistral, which has become France's AI darling after being founded only last year. That followed Microsoft's previous existing partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which is also facing scrutiny from the CMA.
Mistral said it's "fully committed to cooperating with the CMA throughout this process to ensure that our long-term independence and access to the market are upheld."
Amazon, meanwhile, has spent billions for a minority stake in Anthropic. The two companies are collaborating to develop so-called foundation models, which underpin the generative AI systems that have captured global attention.
"It's unprecedented for the CMA to review a collaboration of this type," Amazon said in a statement. "Unlike partnerships between other AI startups and large technology companies, our collaboration with Anthropic includes a limited investment, doesn't give Amazon a board director or observer role, and continues to have Anthropic running its models on multiple cloud providers."
The CMA said it's stepping up its scrutiny of the market for foundation models after it published a report that highlighted the risk that powerful companies could use partnerships with key AI players to strengthen their positions.
A new round of airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs late Sunday as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon in a widening war with Iran-allied militant groups across the region. Palestinian officials said a strike on a mosque in Gaza killed at least 19 people.
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Christopher Ciccone, a multihyphenate artist, dancer, designer and younger brother of Madonna, has died. He was 63.
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New data raises questions about the drinks people consume and the potential risks associated with them, according to researchers at Galway University in Ireland, in partnership with Hamilton’s McMaster University.
A 54-year-old inmate at the Toronto South Detention Centre has been charged in connection with a deadly jail beating late last week that claimed the life of a 69-year-old prisoner.
The Archbishop of Toronto is among 21 new cardinals Pope Francis named Sunday and the lone new cardinal from North America.
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Advocacy groups behind a so-called suicide capsule said Sunday they have suspended the process of taking applications to use it as a criminal investigation into its first use in Switzerland is completed.
Donald Trump's fourth scheduled stop in eight days in Wisconsin is a sign of his increased attention as Republicans fret about the former president's ability to match the Democrats' enthusiasm and turnout machine.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's chief of staff quit on Sunday, citing concerns that growing news reports about her role 'risked becoming a distraction to the government.'
As a junior at George Washington University, Ty Lindia meets new students every day. But with the shadow of the Israel-Hamas war hanging over the Washington, D.C., campus, where everyone has a political opinion, each new encounter is fraught.
It was a year ago when Jomana Siddiqui visited Lebanon, where her father was born — and is now buried. She planned to return there soon; this time, she thought, she would take her two teenage daughters.
Justin Trudeau will travel to Laos later this week for the ASEAN summit, marking what his office says will be the first official visit of a Canadian prime minister to the Southeast Asian country.
In an interview with CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, airing Sunday, Cohen said that despite the failed attempt at a pause, he still believes a ceasefire is possible.
On Saturday, tensions rose again between Quebec and Ottawa at the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) political conference in Saint-Hyacinthe.
Rwandan health authorities will begin a vaccine study against the Marburg hemorrhagic fever, officials said Sunday, as the East African country tries to stop the spread of an outbreak that has killed 12 people.
Bruzzese came down with COVID-19 in February 2023, and received her injection at the end of March. “Being able to recognize smells is something we take for granted, until you can’t.â€
New data raises questions about the drinks people consume and the potential risks associated with them, according to researchers at Galway University in Ireland, in partnership with Hamilton’s McMaster University.
Scientists announced on Thursday a milestone in neurobiological research with the mapping of the entire brain of an adult fruit fly, a feat that may provide insight into brains across the animal kingdom, including people.
For humans, flashing a smile is an easy way to avoid misunderstanding. And, according to a new study, bottlenose dolphins may use a similar tactic while playing with each other.
Alphabet's Google is testing showing check marks next to certain companies on its search results, a company spokesperson said on Friday, in a move aimed at helping users identify verified sources and steer clear of fake websites.
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Donald Glover has cancelled the remaining dates of Childish Gambino’s North American and European tour.
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Yugali Bharote starts her day in the kitchen, preparing lunch boxes for her sons bound for school – but she doesn’t stop there. She then prepares almost a dozen lunch boxes for customers who have subscribed to her homemade meals.
Dubai's Emirates airline has banned pagers and walkie-talkies from its planes, following last month's attacks on such devices carried by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
'Eat more vegetables,' doctors and dietitians say over and over. But for many people, it’s hard to do, because they aren’t excited about veggies or just don’t like them.
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A five-seat sushi counter located inside another restaurant is the latest Vancouver eatery to receive a Michelin star.
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Bernie Hicks, known as the ‘Batman of Amherst,’ always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.
Bubi’s Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.
Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.
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Avry Wortman, 13, scored two touchdowns on Sunday during her team's win in the under 14 Greater Moncton Football Association.
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A man parked a minivan in front of Vancouver City Hall Sunday evening and set it ablaze, according to police.
A man stole a police car and drove it onto the field of an East Vancouver park Sunday morning, placing “dozens of bystanders in harm’s way,†according to police.
All that was left of a downtown Langley restaurant Sunday was a pile of rubble behind a blue fence, after a massive fire tore through it the morning before.
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A 54-year-old inmate at the Toronto South Detention Centre has been charged in connection with a deadly jail beating late last week that claimed the life of a 69-year-old prisoner.
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Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.
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The London Knights continue to get players back from NHL training camps but while the roster takes shape, wins have been tough to come by in the early season.
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Lakehead University's Orillia Campus hosted the 2024 NASA Space Apps challenge this weekend, which allowed teams of students, mentors and scientists to brainstorm solutions for global issues using real-world NASA data.
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NDP Leader David Eby promised Sunday to support police in British Columbia to keep illegal guns off the streets and protect communities, but accused B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad of planning to make the province less safe.
The calculus of predicting an election and identifying its key battlegrounds is complex enough in any race, but observers of the British Columbia poll this month are facing a pair of unknown quantities that make the math even more confounding.
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NDP Leader David Eby is promising to offer a $75-million loan forgiveness program to entice doctors, nurses and heath professionals to expand health-care services in rural British Columbia.
Three young suspects have been arrested in connection with a swarming attack on a teenager in B.C.'s Okanagan last week – and authorities have asked the public to stop circulating disturbing videos of the incident.
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Lethbridge police executed dozens of warrants and laid numerous charges in another targeted enforcement project in the downtown area.
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A drug raid on a home on the Far North Attawapiskat First Nation last week resulted in two local residents being charged and more than $50,000 in suspected narcotics, including methamphetamine, being seized.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people’s basic human right to food.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
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