Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has initiated a formal investigation into Alphabet’s partnership with AI start-up Anthropic.

Last year, Anthropic announced securing a $500 million investment from Alphabet, which promised to invest another $1.5 billion over time.

The antitrust watchdog has been reportedly scrutinizing the Alphabet-Anthropic relationship since July, seeking opinions on whether the deal could undermine competition in the UK.

The regulator has set December 19 as the deadline for its Phase 1 decision, at which point it will decide whether to carry the investigation forward.