U.K. regulators are opening an investigation into Microsoft's (MSFT) hiring of former Inflection AI employees and related agreements with the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:artificial intelligence (AI) start-up.

The Competition and Markets A𒊎uthority (CMA✤) said Tuesday it is examining how the moves by Microsoft could affect competition in the AI market and whether they effectively created a merger.

Microsoft Repo🤪rtedly Hired Inflection Staff Amid $650 Million Deal

Microsoft 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:reportedly paid $650 million to license Inflection's technology earlier this year, as well as hired senior members of the Inflection team, drawing scrutiny of the agreement amid concerns it could violate antitrust rules for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

The company 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:announced that it hired Inflection co-founder Mustafa Suleyman and Inflection Chief Scie🌞ntist Karén Simonyan to join its AI unit in March. Microsoft presented this as a hiring decision to build its AI unit, rather than an acquisition scenario.

The tech giant reported that "several members of the Inflection team have chosen to join Mustafa and Karén at Microsoft," including "some of the most accomplished AI engineers, researchers, and builders in the world."

Inflection said the Microsoft hiring was an "important change," and announced during this time that its Inflection-2.5 AI model would be hosted on Microsoft Azure.

A Microsoft spokesperson told Investopedia the company is "confident that the hiring of talent promotes competition and should not be treated as a merger." They said Microsoft "will provide the UK Competition and Markets Authority with the information it needs to complete its inquiries expeditiously."

UK Regulators Latest To Investigate Microsoft

The CMA is the latest regulator to announce an investigation into the relationship between Microsof🎃t and Inflection.

The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is also reportedly investigating Microsoft's actions with Inflection AI to determi🤪ne if they vꦆiolated antitrust rules for M&A.

The CMA is 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:already examining Microsoft and Amazon's (AMZN) A🔥I partnerships fಌor impacts on competition.

Microsoft has 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:established itself as an early AI leader through its ongoing 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which has drawn the attention of competition regulato🍒rs as well.

Microsoft shares were little changed following the news and have gained nearly 18% since the start of the year.

UPDATE—July 17, 2024: This article has been updated to include a statement from Microsoft.