U.K. antitrust officials have decided against launching a full investigation into Google’s investment in AI startup Anthropic, easing regulatory scrutiny over the partnership. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) initially opened a merger inquiry in October to assess whether Google’s ties to Anthropic posed competitive risks. However, officials concluded the arrangement doesn’t meet the criteria for investigation under Britain’s merger provisions. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, had agreed to increase its investment in Anthropic to up to $2 billion last year to bolster its position in the AI race against competitors like Microsoft, OpenAI, and Amazon.

The CMA’s decision aligns with its earlier ruling not to investigate Anthropic’s $4 billion partnership with Amazon, citing jurisdictional limitations. Anthropic, which was founded by former OpenAI employees and offers an AI assistant called Claude, emphasized its independence, stating its partnerships don’t compromise its corporate governance or strategic freedom. The CMA has approved several AI-related partnerships this year, including Microsoft’s hiring of Inflection AI employees, but it continues to review Microsoft’s ties to OpenAI.