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

On 16 May 2024, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced the launch of its merger investigation into the partnership between Microsoft and Mistral AI, starting on 17 May 2024. This decision follows a public consultation, where the CMA sought views on whether the partnerships and other arrangements may result in the creation of relevant merger situations and the potential impact of these deals on competition in the UK. In particular, the CMA decided that they had sufficient information to launch an investigation to decide whether to make a reference for a phase 2 investigation. The initial period for this decision ends on 12 July 2024. However, due to a concurrent four-month review period ending earlier, the deadline for the CMA to announce its decision is 4 July 2024.