United Kingdom: Closure on CMA merger investigation into partnership between Microsoft and Mistral AI

On 17 May 2024, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) closed its merger investigation into partnership between Microsoft and Mistral AI, deciding that it does not meet the criteria to qualify for investigation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002.In particular, the CMA investigated whether the partnership may result in the creation of relevant merger situations and the potential impact of these deals on competition in the UK following the release of the report on competition in the markets for AI Foundation Models, which determined that some partnerships involving key players could exacerbate existing market power positions through the Foundation Models' value chain.