Britain's competition watchdog does not believe Microsoft's investment in Mistral AI constitutes a merger – just weeks after calling for industry views on the deal.
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In a brief statement, the Competition and Markets Authority said today that it "decides that Microsoft Corporation's partnership with Mistral AI does not qualify for investigation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002."
Only in late April did the regulator confirm that it was evaluating whether the $16.4 million stake Microsoft bought in the French AI startup effectively amounted to a formal merger, and if so, it asked whether this would "result in a significant reduction of the competition."
At the time, and to assist in its assessment, the CMA invited "comments from interested parties." Also under the spotlight was Microsoft's decision to hire Inflection AI CEO and co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, who now leads Microsoft's AI division and brought many of its employees with him.
