US senators call out Big Tech’s new approach to poaching talent, products from smaller AI startups

AP Technology Writers

Three U.S. Senators are calling for action against a new practice big technology companies are using to swallow up the talent and products of innovative AI startups without formally acquiring them. Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Peter Welch and Ron Wyden sent a letter Friday urging antitrust enforcers at the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to act against “undue consolidation across the industry,” including a recent deal between Amazon and the AI startup Adept. The practice generally involves a smaller startup sending its key employees to a larger company after they license its products or datasets.