Axios AI+

Meta reportedly is planning to invest around $14.8 billion for a 49% stake in Scale AI, with the startup’s CEO to join a new AI lab that Mark Zuckerberg is personally staffing.

• When the news broke yesterday, albeit still unconfirmed by either side, lots of commenters suggested that the unusual structure was to help Meta sidestep antitrust scrutiny.
• Not so fast.

What to know: U.S. antitrust regulators at the FTC and DOJ do have the authority to investigate non-control deals, even if it’s been rarely utilized.

• That’s true under both Sections 7 and 8 of the Clayton Act, which focus on M&A and interlocking directorates, respectively.