LONDON: Britain's competition watchdog said on Friday it would not investigate Microsoft's partnership with Mistral AI, weeks after seeking opinions on the deal.
In February, Microsoft invested $16 million in Mistral AI and partnered with the French startup to make its artificial intelligence models available through the Azure platform. It is also an investor in OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the Mistral partnership would not be subject to investigation under UK merger regulations. A CMA spokesperson said: “The CMA has considered the information submitted by Microsoft and Mistral AI, as well as the feedback received in response to requests for comment.”
“Based on the evidence, the CMA does not believe that Microsoft gained significant influence over Mistral AI as a result of the partnership and is therefore not subject to an investigation.”
In April, the CMA requested comment on this partnership, Microsoft's separate relationship with Inflection AI, and Amazon's partnership with Anthropic.
“Investments and partnerships are essential for new entrants in the AI economy,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.
“We welcome the CMA’s decision that our spin-off investment and partnership with Mistral AI do not constitute a merger or acquisition.”
European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, who has been investigating partnerships between Big Tech and AI startups, met with Mistral AI last month. “We need active competition in the AI space now,” she wrote to X after the conference.
