Description

Closed CMA phase 1 investigation into Alphabet (Google LLC) and Anthropic partnership

On 19 November 2024, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) closed its phase 1 investigation into the partnership between Alphabet (Google LLC) and Anthropic. The CMA found that the partnership did not qualify for further investigation under the merger provisions of Section 22 of the Enterprise Act 2002. The CMA determined that Google has not acquired material influence over Anthropic as a result of the partnership. It considered Google's commercial relationship with Anthropic through the partnership as a whole, focusing on the potential influence of Google at the shareholder and/or board level through being an important source of computing, funding, and distribution sources through Vertex AI. It also reviewed internal documents from both parties to establish whether Google could exercise material influence in other unspecified ways. Moreover, the CMA found that the UK turnover test for further investigation was not met because Anthropic's UK turnover did not exceed GBP 70 million in the UK.

Original source

Scope

Policy Area
Competition
Policy Instrument
Anti-competitive agreements regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
ML and AI development
Implementation Level
national
Government Branch
executive
Government Body
competition authority

Complete timeline of this policy change

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2024-07-30
in consultation

On 30 July 2024, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened a public consultation on its…

2024-08-13
processing consultation

On 13 August 2024, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) closed its public consultation on…

2024-10-24
processing consultation

On 24 October 2024, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched the phase 1 investigation …

2024-11-19
concluded

On 19 November 2024, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) closed its phase 1 investigation i…

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