Canva's acquisition of generative artificial intelligence platform Leonardo.Ai is one of the most significant in Australia's short history of venture-backed startups. It also combines two top priorities for competition regulators globally in 2024: AI and digital platforms.
On Tuesday, the UK Competition and Markets Authority announced a review of Alphabet's partnership with AI company Anthropic. And in April, ACCC commissioner Liza Carver told a regulatory conference that the competition watchdog is "deeply concerned" about the concentration of foundation models among a handful of companies.
The ACCC has long voiced concerns over big platforms buying up smaller players as it awaits updated merger laws to stop "creeping acquisitions" and new competition industry codes to address the market power of major tech companies.
Canva is an Australian tech success story, but it isn't anywhere near the size of Google or Meta, and the expansion of Leonardo.Ai's foundation models on Australian soil through its acquisition could even calm some of the ACCC's worries.
