Press Coverage June 17, 2025
Informatica/Salesforce Presents Little Overlap, Could Benefit From Trump Administration’s Focus on AI – Analysis
Brad Weber, a partner and co-leader of Troutman Pepper Locke’s Antitrust Practice, was quoted in the June 17, 2025 Mergermarket article, “Informatica/Salesforce Presents Little Overlap, Could Benefit From Trump Administration’s Focus on AI – Analysis.”
The US antitrust agencies will likely stand out of the way of any action that would “hinder the ability for AI innovation or the AI developers to have access to inputs” including data, chips, or computing power, said Bradley Weber, an antitrust partner at law rm Troutman Pepper Locke and author of an upcoming paper on the Trump FTC’s approach to AI partnerships.
Weber did not rule out the possibility of a second request, especially for a USD 8bn tech deal. “But at the end of the day, unless there’s a real horizontal overlap, where they really do compete head-to-head, and this would be Salesforce eliminating a competitor, then I would think that the deal ultimately would be allowed to close,” he said.
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Antitrust attorney Weber said he viewed the deal as a likely pro-competitive transaction, especially if it would further Salesforceʼs innovation in AI.
The deal “falls into what the Trump AI [executive] order said about not hindering innovation and ensuring that the agencies are allowing AI to develop,” Weber said.
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The order, which also called for the suspension, rescission, or revision of Biden-era AI regulations, “is a very clear signal that under Trump … the agencies are probably going to take a light hand on AI antitrust enforcement,” said Weber.
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