Salesforce to Open 1st AI Center in London

FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Salesforce.com is displayed on the Salesforce Tower in New York City, US, March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Salesforce.com is displayed on the Salesforce Tower in New York City, US, March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
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Salesforce to Open 1st AI Center in London

FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Salesforce.com is displayed on the Salesforce Tower in New York City, US, March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Salesforce.com is displayed on the Salesforce Tower in New York City, US, March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Salesforce has picked London for its first AI center, where it said industry experts, developers and customers will be able to collaborate on innovation and develop new skills.
The US cloud software company, which is hosting 18,000 people at its annual London World Tour event on Thursday, said a year ago it would invest $4 billion in Britain in the next five years, including in artificial intelligence innovation.
Zahra Bahrololoumi, chief executive of Salesforce UK and Ireland, said the company's customers were excited about the benefits of AI, but were cautious about the emerging risks.
"No company will adopt AI unless they can trust it, which is why we are so well positioned," she told Reuters, pointing to Salesforce's Einstein technology, which has a "Trust Layer" to ensure customers' data is not compromised.
"We are sending a clear message to customers and partners on AI, we are deeply committed to working closely together so that you can reap the rewards of this transformative technology, while ensuring it is a force for good," she said.



UK Clears Amazon's AI Partnership with Anthropic

The logo of Amazon is seen on the door of an Amazon Books retail store in New York City, US, February 14, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
The logo of Amazon is seen on the door of an Amazon Books retail store in New York City, US, February 14, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
TT

UK Clears Amazon's AI Partnership with Anthropic

The logo of Amazon is seen on the door of an Amazon Books retail store in New York City, US, February 14, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
The logo of Amazon is seen on the door of an Amazon Books retail store in New York City, US, February 14, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Britain's competition regulator said on Friday Amazon's artificial intelligence partnership with startup Anthropic will not be referred for a deeper probe as it did not raise competition concerns.

The Competition and Markets Authority said the partnership, which includes a $4 billion investment by Amazon in Anthropic, did not qualify for investigation under Britain's merger regulations.

"We welcome the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decision acknowledging its lack of jurisdiction regarding this collaboration," an Amazon spokesperson said in response to the regulator's decision, according to Reuters.

The regulator has also cleared a similar collaboration between Microsoft and Inflection AI.

However, Alphabet's partnership with Anthropic is still under scrutiny.

"Anthropic is an independent company and our strategic partnerships and investor relationships do not diminish our corporate governance independence or freedom to partner with others," an Anthropic spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

Anthropic, which was co-founded by former OpenAI executives and siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, has received billions of dollars in investments from several tech giants.

Antitrust regulators around the world have increasingly raised concerns over multiple deals struck between smaller industry startups and big tech companies.