British competition regulators said Wednesday they'll scrutinise recent artificial intelligence deals by Microsoft and Amazon over concerns that the moves could thwart competition in the AI industry. The Competition and Markets Authority said it's looking into Microsoft's partnership with France's Mistral AI and the company's hiring of key staff from another startup, Inflection AI. The watchdog also separately announced that it's investigating Amazon's $4 billion investment in San Francisco-based Anthropic. Big Tech companies have been pouring money into generative AI startups amid growing public and business interest in the technology, but the investments have also drawn attention from antitrust authorities. The UK watchdog said it was seeking comments from interested third parties," before deciding whether to carry out an in-depth antitrust investigation. "We will assess, objectively and impartially, whether each of these three deals fall within UK merger rules and, if they do, . Read The Rest at :