The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decided Alphabet-owned Google’s investment in AI player Anthropic did not merit a full-blown investigation under merger rules.

The CMA’s interest in the partnership between the two companies was sparked by Google unveiling plans to invest a total of $2 billion in Anthropic. Google already owns a ten per cent stake in the AI company.

The authority assessed whether the partnership “may be expected” to result in a substantial lessening of market competition for any goods or services in the country.

In the ruling, it stated “the CMA does not believe that Google has acquired material influence over Anthropic as a result of the partnership”.

A representative for Anthropic told Mobile World Live that it “is an independent company and our strategic partnerships and investor relationships do not diminish our corporate governance independence or our freedom to partner with others.”

“We welcome the CMA’s decision to conclude their review of Google’s investment in us, as a result of their conclusion that Google does not have material influence over Anthropic.”

The antitrust watchdog cleared Amazon’s $4 billion investment in Anthropic in September. However, the CMA is still looking into Microsoft’s partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI.