The UK’s competition watchdog is investigating the upcoming $14 billion acquisition by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) of Juniper Networks over market competition concerns.

HPE indicated it would buy Juniper Networks, the networking gear producer, in an effort to bolster its AI efforts.

The company hopes the acquisition will double its networking business, and expects to finalise the deal at either the end of year of the start of the 2025, according to Reuters, and HPE is communicating with the UK watchdog to complete the reviews and secure clearance for the deal without it needing to go to a further probe.

The CMA will have until 14 August to decide if it will probe deeper into any competition concerns.

This is not the only merger fueling competition woes amid the push for AI adoption and readiness.

As more companies vie to keep up and make their mark in the expanding AI landscape, mergers and partnerships between different companies have come under the spotlight as competition watchdogs content with big tech becoming even bigger.

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Microsoft and OpenAI’s partnership, potentially one of the most dominant, has also come under the scrutiny of the CMA, as the competition watchdog fears the two companies will squash smaller firms trying to find their way in the blossoming AI market.

The CMA’s investigation into HPE and Juniper Networks has begun, and they are currently inviting comments from any interested parties with their thoughts on if the merger could “result in a substantial lessening of competition with any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services.”