LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Britain's competition

watchdog said on Friday it would not investigate the partnership

between Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Mistral AI, weeks after it

invited views on the tie-up.

In February, Microsoft ( MSFT ) invested $16 million in Mistral AI,

partnering to make the French start-up's artificial intelligence

models available through its Azure platform. It has also

invested in ChatGPT owner OpenAI.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the Mistral

partnership did not qualify for investigation under Britain's

merger regulations.

"The CMA has considered information submitted by Microsoft ( MSFT )

and Mistral AI, together with feedback received in response to

its invitation to comment," a CMA spokesperson said.

"Based on the evidence, the CMA does not believe that

Microsoft ( MSFT ) has acquired material influence over Mistral AI as a

result of the partnership and therefore does not qualify for

investigation."

The CMA in April sought comments on the partnership, as well

as separate links between Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Inflection AI and a

tie-up between Amazon ( AMZN ) and Anthropic.

A Microsoft ( MSFT ) spokesperson said: "Investment and partnership

are essential to new players in the AI economy.

"We welcome the CMA's determination that our fractional

investment and partnership with Mistral AI does not qualify as a

merger or acquisition."

European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, who has

been looking into Big Tech's partnerships with AI start-ups, met

Mistral AI last month. "We need vibrant competition in AI, now,"

she wrote on X after the meeting.