The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has declared it needs new powers after the European Commission chose not to investigate Microsoft's acquisition of AI startup Inflection.
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The UK's regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), itself decided the deal was too small to care earlier this month. And yesterday the Commission said it would not launch an investigation into the deal after member states withdrew their referral requests in light of the EU Court of Justice ruling in the Illumina/GRAIL case.
Illumina prevailed in Europe's highest court earlier in September over its $7.1 billion acquisition of diagnostic test maker GRAIL. The win marked an end to the commission accepting referrals for acquisitions that did not meet revenue thresholds but could eventually lead to market distortions.
Like, for example, a tech giant picking up a startup that doesn't have much revenue right now, but could present competition in the future.
