Amazon’s deal with AI startup Adept faces FTC scrutiny

The Federal Trade Commission has launched an informal inquiry into Amazon‘s recently announced deal with AI startup Adept, CNBC has confirmed.

The FTC is seeking more information about the agreement announced last month, which involved Amazon hiring key executives and licensing technology from Adept, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Representatives from the FTC and Adept didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the probe, which was first reported by Reuters. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the details of the probe.

The move comes as regulators in the U.S. and abroad are increasingly scrutinizing tech companies’ investments and partnerships with AI startups. The FTC in January announced it’s investigating Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft‘s recent AI deals, while the Department of Justice is examining Nvidia, the top maker of chips powering the AI boom.

Britain’s competition watchdog said Tuesday it launched a probe into Microsoft‘s hiring of top talent from startup Inflection AI. The agency issued a report in April in which it warned partnerships like the one between Microsoft and Inflection AI, along with Amazon and AI startup Anthropic, may allow them to “shape these markets in their own interests.”

Lawmakers including Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, have pointed to Amazon’s deal with Adept as an example of tech companies licensing technology or making “acquihires” in order to avoid antitrust scrutiny.

As part of the agreement announced last month, Amazon hired Adept co-founder and CEO David Luan and “a few other deeply talented team members” to its team working on artificial general intelligence unit. It also agreed to license Adept’s technology, multimodal models and some datasets.

In a blog post last month, Adept said that developing its own AI models would’ve required more capital, adding sthe Amazon deal will allow it to focus on building AI agents.

The Adept deal marks Amazon’s latest high-profile AI bet. Amazon has also pumped billions of dollars into OpenAI competitor Anthropic, and has developed generative AI products across its cloud computing, retail and consumer electronics businesses.

— CNBC’s Hayden Field contributed reporting to this story.