EU approves $16 billion Nuance deal

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EU approves $16 billion Nuance deal

The European Commission granted Microsoft unconditional antitrust approval for its $16 billion bid for the company's artificial intelligence and speech technology company, Nuance Communications, on Tuesday.

The deal is Microsoft's second biggest after its $26.2 billion LinkedIn purchase in 2016 and will boost its presence in cloud services for healthcare.

It has already been approved in the United States and Australia, and was due to receive EU approval earlier this month.

The Commission said that it would not significantly reduce competition in markets for transcription software, cloud services, enterprise communication services, PC operating systems, and other products.

The Commission said that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns on any of the markets examined in the European Economic Area.

U.S. based Nuance serves 77% of U.S. hospitals and was responsible for the launch of Apple's Siri virtual assistant.

The Commission said that they had examined issues including the overlap between Microsoft and Nuance's transcription software activities, and found that they offered very different products that would continue to face strong competition from other players.

Tech companies have been adding AI-focused firms to their products and services as they integrate this technology into their products and services.