The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Britain's competition regulator, has announced the launch of a merger inquiry into Amazon's partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The investigation, which began on 8 August 2024, will examine whether the collaboration between the ecommerce giant and the AI firm could potentially lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the UK market.

The CMA has set a deadline of 4 October 2024 for its phase 1 decision, at which point it will determine whether to refer the partnership for a more in-depth investigation or clear it of competition concerns. This probe follows a similar inquiry initiated by the watchdog into Google parent Alphabet's partnership with Anthropic in late July.

Amazon's involvement with Anthropic includes a $4 billion investment announced in March 2024, along with an agreement for Anthropic to use Amazon Web Services as its primary cloud provider for critical operations, including safety research and future foundation model development.

In response to the inquiry, an Amazon spokesperson expressed disappointment, stating, "Amazon's collaboration with Anthropic does not raise any competition concerns or meet the CMA's own threshold for review." The company emphasised that it holds no board seat or decision-making power at Anthropic, and that the AI startup remains free to work with other providers.

Anthropic, co-founded by former OpenAI executives Dario and Daniela Amodei, also defended its independence. A spokesperson for the company said, "Our strategic partnerships and investor relationships do not diminish our corporate governance independence or our freedom to partner with others." Both Amazon and Anthropic have indicated their willingness to cooperate with the CMA's investigation.

The CMA's scrutiny of AI partnerships reflects growing concerns among antitrust regulators worldwide about deals between industry startups and tech giants. In July, regulators from the US, European Union, and UK signed a joint statement pledging to work together to safeguard fair competition in the rapidly evolving AI sector.

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