U.K. antitrust officials announced they are investigating whether Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google’s investment in AI startup Anthropic could harm competition. This is a setback for Google after British regulators recently approved a similar partnership between Amazon and Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) began reviewing Google’s investment in July and has opened a merger inquiry.

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A decision on whether further investigation is needed is expected by December 19.

Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT launch in late 2022, tech giants have heavily invested in AI startups.

The U.K.’s competition regulator recently approved the partnership between Amazon.Com Inc AMZN and Jeff Bezos-backed AI startup Anthropic, despite Amazon’s significant $4 billion investment in the company.

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed the partnership does not fall under its jurisdiction.

In 2023, Google committed up to $2 billion to Anthropic to bolster its position in the AI race, competing with Microsoft, OpenAI, and Amazon.

A Google spokesperson affirmed the company’s commitment to building an open AI ecosystem to the Wall Street Journal. Anthropic stated it would cooperate with the CMA and emphasized its independence in strategic decision-making.

The U.S. Big Techs are amid intense global scrutiny over their AI investments.

Microsoft relinquished its board observer role at OpenAI amid rising regulatory scrutiny after its $10 billion investment in the AI startup.

The company stepped down from the non-voting observer seat, which provided access to board meetings, as OpenAI’s governance reportedly improved.

Price Action: GOOGL stock is down 0.03% at $162.74 at the last check on Thursday.

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