The US Federal Commerce Fee has opened an antitrust investigation of Microsoft Corp., drilling into every thing from the corporate’s cloud computing and software program licensing companies to cybersecurity choices and synthetic intelligence merchandise.
After greater than a 12 months of conducting casual interviews with opponents and enterprise companions, antitrust enforcers have crafted an in depth request to power Microsoft to show over data, in accordance with individuals accustomed to the matter. The demand, which is a whole bunch of pages lengthy, has been despatched to the corporate after FTC Chair Lina Khan signed off, mentioned one of many individuals.
FTC antitrust legal professionals are set to fulfill with Microsoft opponents subsequent week to assemble extra details about the Redmond, Washington-based firm’s enterprise practices, in accordance with two different individuals accustomed to the plans who just like the others requested to not be named discussing a confidential matter.
Microsoft and the FTC declined to remark.
The FTC’s scrutiny of Microsoft’s cloud computing enterprise gained steam after a string of cybersecurity incidents that concerned the corporate’s merchandise. The corporate is a high authorities contractor, offering billions of {dollars} in software program and cloud providers to US companies together with the Protection Division.
The Microsoft data demand is one in all Khan’s parting photographs as she steps down after helming one of the crucial aggressive pushes towards consolidated company energy the company has delivered in a long time. Whereas enterprise leaders are hoping that President-elect Donald Trump will usher in an period of lighter regulation, it should fall to his new FTC chair — nonetheless unnamed — to resolve proceed with the case.
The FTC inquiry renews scrutiny of Microsoft for its enterprise practices greater than 25 years after the federal government sued the corporate over related conduct involving bundling its Home windows working system and browser and unsuccessfully tried to interrupt it up.
A key focus of the present probe is Microsoft’s bundling of each its standard workplace productiveness and safety software program with its cloud choices, in accordance with the individuals accustomed to the data request.
Microsoft’s cybersecurity failings, mixed with its heft as a authorities contractor, are seen by the FTC for instance of the corporate’s problematic energy over the market, these individuals mentioned.
In a November 2023 report, the FTC highlighted issues that the concentrated nature of the cloud market signifies that “outages, or different points that degrade the service of a cloud supplier, may have a cascading influence on the financial system or particular sectors.”
The CrowdStrike crash that affected tens of millions of gadgets working on Microsoft Home windows methods earlier this 12 months was itself a testomony to the widespread use of the corporate’s merchandise and the way it straight impacts the worldwide financial system.
A portion of the probe is targeted on the corporate’s practices associated to safety software program referred to as Microsoft Entra ID — previously referred to as Azure Energetic Listing — which helps authenticate customers logging in to cloud-based software program, a few of the individuals mentioned.
Rivals have complained that Microsoft’s licensing phrases and bundling of software program with cloud providers makes it tougher for rival authentication and cybersecurity firms to compete.
Firms reminiscent of Salesforce Inc.’s Slack and Zoom Communications Inc. have mentioned that Microsoft’s apply of giving freely its Groups video-conferencing software program totally free in a bundle with standard software program merchandise like Phrase and Excel is anticompetitive and makes it tougher for them to compete.
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