Microsoft wins approval from US antitrust regulators to buy AI firm Nuance as it looks to bolster healthcare business

• Microsoft has won antitrust approval to acquire AI and voice communications company Nuance.
• Nuance said in an SEC filing that the government's deadline to object to the deal expired June 1.
• Microsoft's deal to buy Nuance for $19.7 billion is still awaiting regulatory approvals elsewhere.

Microsoft has won US antitrust approval for its deal to buy artificial intelligence and speech technology company Nuance Communications, according to a filing made by Nuance to the government.

The $19.7 billion deal, which was announced in April, came after the companies partnered in 2019 to automate healthcare administrative work, such as documentation.

Nuance said in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday that the deadline for the US government to object to the deal had expired on June 1.

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That expiration "satisfies one of the conditions to the closing of the merger," the company said in the filing.

A spokesperson for Microsoft said in a statement that the deal was undergoing regulatory reviews in other jurisdictions and was intended to close at the end of 2021.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Bill Berkrot)