UK watchdog seeks views on Microsoft's and Amazon's AI partnerships

(Reuters) -Britain's competition watchdog said on Wednesday it was seeking comments on the AI partnerships between Microsoft and Mistral AI, as well as between Amazon and Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it was also seeking comments on Microsoft's hiring of former employees of Inflection AI and related arrangements.

The regulator has not formed any conclusions on whether the deals fall within UK merger rules or raise competition concerns, it said.

The regulator is inviting views by May 9. This forms the first part of its information gathering process and comes before the start of a formal investigation.

"The CMA is also considering feedback received earlier this year on Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI and is currently waiting for information it has requested from the firms," it said.

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Devika Syamnath)