"The US Federal Trade Commission has sent out a raft of civil investigative demands to Microsoft's competitors as it warms up a probe into whether the cloud and software giant has an illegal monopoly across chunks of the enterprise tech market. Bloomberg reported over the weekend that the FTC had contacted at least half a dozen companies as part of the probe, presenting them with detailed questions on Redmond's licensing and business practices."
"Whether Microsoft makes it difficult ( or more costly) for customers to run its software on third-party cloud platforms appears to be a key question, though AI, security, and ID software are also on the agenda. The FTC demanded stacks of info on Microsoft's AI operations in 2024, according to the report. This included model training costs, datacenter operations, and licensing practices. The UK Competition and Markets Authority's investigation into the cloud services market concluded last summer."
"It recommended the CMA flexes "its digital markets powers to prioritize commencing strategic market status (SMS) investigations, to consider designating the two largest providers - Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS) - with SMS in relation to their respective digital activities in cloud services." It also said it would "keep under review possible options for further designation investigations, and anticipates that the CMA Board will consider options in early 2026.""
The US Federal Trade Commission has issued civil investigative demands to multiple Microsoft competitors as part of a probe into possible illegal monopoly practices in enterprise technology markets. The FTC requested detailed information on Redmond's licensing and business practices and is examining whether Microsoft makes it harder or more expensive for customers to run its software on third-party cloud platforms. AI, security, and identity software are also under scrutiny. The FTC sought extensive data on Microsoft's 2024 AI operations, including model training costs, datacenter operations, and licensing. The UK CMA recommended exploring Strategic Market Status for Microsoft and AWS, and the EU is investigating alleged abuse in on-premises software following a Google complaint.
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