The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a formal antitrust investigation into Amazon after the tech giant wrapped up a $4 billion investment in AI startup Anthropic at the end of March.

The CMA’s launch of its formal Phase 1 review is the end-result of the antitrust regulator gathering information and comments about Amazon’s investment into Anthropic.

It set a deadline of 4 October to determine whether a deeper Phase 2 investigation is necessary.  

Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees. In 2023, Google made a $300 million investment into the company.

In July, the CMA committed to a set of principles on AI competitiveness alongside peers from the US and European Union, where partnerships between big tech and emerging AI players have also sparked the interest of regulators.

A representative for Anthropic told Mobile World Live (MWL) that it is an independent company. Further, Amazon doesn’t have a seat on its board of directors or any board observer rights. It is free to partner with other entities aside of Google and Amazon.

“We intend to cooperate with the CMA and provide them with a comprehensive understanding of Amazon’s investment and our commercial collaboration,” according to Anthropic’s statement.

Amazon stated to MWL it is disappointed the CMA has not ended its probe. It contends the collaboration with Anthropic “does not raise any competition concerns or meet the CMA’s own threshold for review”.

“By investing in Anthropic, Amazon, along with other companies, is helping Anthropic expand choice and competition in this important technology,” Amazon stated.