11:33 AM EDT, 10/24/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with Anthropic's response in the fifth and sixth paragraphs.)

Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic is facing an investigation from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority as the partnership may result in the "creation of a relevant merger situation" under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002, the regulator said Thursday.

The CMA intends to announce its phase 1 decision Dec. 19, on whether it should proceed to the second phase of investigation, the regulator added.

The regulator said in July it was considering whether the partnership may lead to "a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services."

"Google ( GOOG ) is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world," a Google ( GOOG ) spokesperson told MT Newswires. "Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don't demand exclusive tech rights."

Anthropic intends to cooperate with the CMA and present a "complete picture" of Google's ( GOOG ) investment and their commercial collaboration, an Anthropic spokesperson told MT Newswires.

"We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others," the Anthropic spokesperson said.

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