EU and UK competition law expert, Sean-Paul Brankin, has been quoted in Global Competition Review’s article, ‘CMA clears Microsoft/Inflection AI, confirms broad merger powers’.

The piece summarises that ‘Microsoft’s close relationship with Inflection AI does not raise competition concerns’ but the ‘hiring of Inflection AI employees constitutes a merger’, thus gaining attention from the CMA. A Microsoft spokesperson ‘welcomed the CMA’s clearance decision following its initial review.’

Sean-Paul commented that “the CMA is ‘prepared to flex its jurisdictional muscles’ and push the boundaries in this respect, perhaps with higher profile AI partnerships such as Microsoft/OpenAI in mind.”

To read the full article, see the GCR website (subscription required).