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The FTC is seeking more information about the agreement announced last month, which involved Amazon hiring key executives and licensing technology from Adept, according to a source familiar with the matter. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Representatives from the FTC and Adept didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the probe, which was first reported by Reuters. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the details of the investigation.
The move comes as regulators in the U.S. and abroad are increasingly scrutinizing tech companies’ investments and partnerships with AI startups. The FTC announced in January that it is investigating recent AI deals by Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft, while the Department of Justice is examining Nvidia, the leading 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 warning that partnerships like those between Microsoft and Inflection AI, as well as Amazon and AI startup Anthropic, may allow these companies 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” 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” for its team working on its 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 developing its own AI models would have required more capital, adding that the 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 invested billions of dollars in OpenAI competitor Anthropic and has developed generative AI products across its cloud computing, retail, and consumer electronics businesses.