Recently, Amazon's $400 million investment plan in AI startup Anthropic has finally received approval from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This decision has brought relief to many, as the CMA, after reviewing, concluded that the transaction does not have a significant impact on market competition and thus requires no further investigation. According to the CMA's report, Anthropic's revenue in the UK is below the threshold for merger review, and its market share is not significant enough to warrant additional scrutiny.
Amazon and Anthropic have a very close partnership. Under this deal, Amazon will have priority access to Anthropic's AI models and chatbot, Claude. In return, Anthropic will use Amazon's AWS cloud services and will also leverage Amazon's proprietary AI chips, Trainium and Inferentia, for future model development. The goal of both parties is to promote the responsible deployment and scaling of generative AI solutions, especially in highly regulated industries.
Interestingly, Amazon's internal AI team has a competitive awareness towards Anthropic. The team is developing a flagship model called "Olympus," initially planned to surpass Anthropic's Claude by mid-2024. However, due to some internal development challenges, Amazon decided to partner with Anthropic to integrate Claude's technology into the new version of Alexa, dubbed "Remarkable," which is expected to launch in October. This version will utilize Anthropic's AI models, offering users a more natural dialogue experience, personalized shopping suggestions, news summaries, and smarter home controls.
It is worth noting that the CMA is currently investigating investments by other large tech companies in the AI sector, including Google's investment in Anthropic and Microsoft's deal with OpenAI. Additionally, the US Federal Trade Commission is also investigating Anthropic's investments as part of a broader review targeting tech giants including Google and Microsoft.
Key Points:
🌐 Amazon's $400 million investment approved by UK's CMA, no competition issues found.
🤖 Amazon will have priority access to Anthropic's AI models, Anthropic will use AWS services.
📱 New version of Alexa will integrate Anthropic's technology, offering enhanced user experience.