The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to investigate Microsoft’s cloud-computing business as its full-force approach to antitrust continues in the final weeks of the Biden administration, according to a report.
The agency, led by chairwoman Leena Khan, is investigating claims that the company is abusing its market influence by imposing terms that prevent users from transferring their data from its Azure service to other cloud-computing software. , people who have direct knowledge of the case told the Financial Times,
The report said Microsoft is reportedly raising subscription fees for people who are leaving the platform, charging excessive exit fees and making its Office 365 products incompatible with other cloud services.
Sources told the Financial Times that the regulatory agency has not yet requested documents or information from Microsoft.
The FTC and Microsoft declined to comment.
However, the planned investigation is the FTC’s latest crackdown on Big Tech under Khan “He will be fired soon,” According to Trump ally and billionaire X owner Elon Musk.
Khan has led a tough regime at the helm of the FTC since President Joe Biden appointed him in 2021.
During his tenure the agency The merger of Nvidia and Lockheed Martin ended and accused Meta of operating as a monopolyThe commission has fought to block Microsoft’s $69 billion deal with video game maker Activision Blizzard and grocery stores. Kroger plans $25 billion merger with Albertsons,
Republicans have taken issue with Khan’s aggressive stance on Silicon Valley’s top companies. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to stop the “regulatory assault” from government agencies like the FTC.
In November 2023, after seeking inputs from business leaders and academicians FTC publishes findings On competition and security practices in the cloud computing industry.
And the report cites many of the same complaints reportedly being made by Microsoft: hefty exit fees, software licensing practices that discourage use of other platforms and excessive fees for customers who only use one cloud service. “Lock-in” exemptions.
Microsoft has also faced increased scrutiny from international regulators.
In April, UK regulators said they were investigating recent separate artificial intelligence deals by Microsoft and Amazon due to concerns that the partnership would crush competition.
In July, the Washington-based software company signed a $21 million settlement with CISPE, a small European cloud services provider, to avoid an EU antitrust investigation.
Cloud services have become an incredibly lucrative business for tech companies. Spending on cloud services is expected to reach $561 billion in 2023 and exceed $675 billion this year – with 20% growth in the sector due to generative AI expansion, According to market research firm Gartner,
According to Statista, Microsoft controls about 20% of the cloud computing market, trailing behind leader Amazon’s 31% market share.
Statista said Google is in third place with 11% market share.
It’s a hyper-competitive field, and Microsoft has accused Google of playing dirty in the past.
Last month, Microsoft accused Google of running a “shadow campaign” to tarnish the company’s name among regulators.
In July, reports alleged that Google had made a counter-proposal to CISPE – the European cloud services provider with which Microsoft had entered into an agreement – in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade them to pursue its complaint against Microsoft. Was in.
