Free Trial

UK competition watchdog clears Microsoft's hiring of AI startup's core staff

LONDON (AP) — British regulators on Wednesday cleared Microsoft's hiring of key staff from startup Inflection AI, saying the deal wouldn't stifle competition in the country's artificial intelligence market.

The Competition and Markets Authority had opened a preliminary investigation in July into Microsoft's recruitment of Inflection's core team, including co-founder and CEO Mustafa Suleyman, chief scientist Karen Simonyan and several top engineers and researchers.

The watchdog said its investigation found that the hirings amounted to a “merger situation” but that the “transaction does not give rise to a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition.”

Big technology companies have been facing scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic lately for gobbling up talent and products at innovative AI startups without formally acquiring them.

Three U.S. Senators called for the practice to be investigated after Amazon pulled a similar maneuver this year in a deal with San Francisco-based Adept that sent its CEO and key employees to the e-commerce giant. Amazon also got a license to Adept’s AI systems and datasets.

The U.K. watchdog said Microsoft hired “almost all of Inflection’s team” and licensed its intellectual property, which gave it access to the startup's AI model and chatbot development capabilities.

Inflection's main product is a chatbot named Pi that specializes in "emotional intelligence" by being being "kind and supportive."

However, the CMA said the deal won’t result in a big loss of competition because Inflection has a “very small” share of the U.K. consumer market for chatbots, and it lacks chatbot features that make it more attractive than rivals.

Should you invest $1,000 in Microsoft right now?

Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Microsoft wasn't on the list.

While Microsoft currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

These 7 Stocks Will Be Magnificent in 2024 Cover

With average gains of 150% since the start of 2023, now is the time to give these stocks a look and pump up your 2024 portfolio.

Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.

Featured Articles and Offers

Recent Videos

’Best Report in 2 Years’: NVIDIA Earnings Crushes Expectations Again
Palantir and the NASDAQ 100: What’s the Next Big Stock Swing for This AI Giant?
Rocket Lab Stock Explodes Higher—What’s Next for This Space Pioneer?

Stock Lists

All Stock Lists

Investing Tools

Calendars and Tools

Search Headlines