The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has aimed its sights at the trade between Amazon and AI startup Adept. Last month, Amazon announced an agreement with Adept to hire top talent from Adept and gain access to the company's technology. Some legislators suggest that such deals may be to avoid antitrust scrutiny.
Caishen Society, July 17th news (Editor Zhou Ziyi) The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an informal investigation into Amazon's recent announced trade with the artificial intelligence startup company Adept.
According to a person familiar with the matter cited by the media, the FTC is currently seeking more information about the agreement, which involves Amazon hiring key executives and obtaining technology licenses from Adept. This request reflects regulators' increasing concerns about the combination of artificial intelligence transactions. FTC has previously conducted a more extensive review of the cooperation between large technology companies and well-known artificial intelligence startups.
The requirement reflects regulators' increasing concerns about the combination of artificial intelligence transactions. FTC has previously conducted a more extensive review of the cooperation between large technology companies and well-known artificial intelligence startups.
More stringent regulation
Last month, Amazon announced an agreement with Adept. As part of the agreement, Amazon hired Adept's co-founder and CEO David Luan and some other highly talented team members to join the team of its General Artificial Intelligence (AGI) department. Adept also agreed to authorize its technology, multimodal models, and some data sets to Amazon.
Adept said in a blog post last month that developing its own AI models will require more funding, and its deal with Amazon will allow it to focus on building AI.
The acquisition of Adept marks Amazon's latest bet in the field of artificial intelligence. Previously, Amazon has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI's competitor Anthropic, and developed generative artificial intelligence products in its cloud computing, retail, and consumer electronics businesses.
This transaction immediately aroused suspicion among some people. Legislators, including Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, pointed out that Amazon's trade with Adept may be an example of large technology companies authorizing technology or engaging in disguised acquisitions to avoid antitrust scrutiny.
At present, US and overseas regulatory agencies are also examining technology companies' investment and their relationships with artificial intelligence startups in more detail. In January this year, the FTC announced that it is investigating recent artificial intelligence transactions among Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft; in addition, the US Department of Justice is investigating the largest chip maker Nvidia, which is driving the AI boom.
Regulators have also targeted a transaction similar to the partnership between Amazon and Adept: In March of this year, Microsoft hired the founder of the startup Inflection AI, Mustafa Suleyman. Microsoft later hired several executives from Inflection and obtained authorization for some of Inflection's technology.
It is reported that US regulatory agencies are investigating Microsoft's similar actions and whether the transaction is to avoid merger disclosure requirements.
In addition, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stated on Tuesday (July 16th) that it has launched an investigation into Microsoft recruiting top talent from the startup Inflection AI. The agency also warned in a report released in April that cooperation between Microsoft and Inflection AI, as well as Amazon and the artificial intelligence startup company Anthropic, may allow them to "shape these markets according to their own interests."