The Brief – The curious case of ‘partnership’ in the AI landscape

 “Partnerships” between big tech firms and AI startups are under the regulatory microscope. The likes of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have rushed to build strong collaborations with the rising stars of the AI world, such as OpenAI, Mistral AI, and Stability AI.

These partnerships come in many shapes and forms, but they often revolve around the use of each other’s tech stacks. Sometimes, they come with investments from big tech companies into startups, but not always. The UK’s Competition Markets Authority identified 90 of these relationships in a recent report.

Many probably don’t formally fall under current merger rules, which examine company tie-ups based on market turnover and share. For example, if two companies have a combined global turnover of over €5 billion, their transaction will likely be reviewed by the European Commission. (...)