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Google accuses Microsoft of anticompetitive cloud practices - The Information

Reuters
Wed, June 21, 2023 

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(Reuters) - Alphabet's Google formally filed a complaint to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday saying Microsoft used its dominant position in enterprise software to push customers towards its cloud services, The Information reported on Wednesday.

Microsoft used the licensing terms in its Office 365 productivity software to lock customers into separate contracts with its Azure cloud server business, Google's complaint said, according to the report.

There is intense rivalry between the two U.S. tech giants in the fast-growing, multi-billion-dollar cloud computing business, where Google trails market leaders Amazon.com and Microsoft.

The sector has recently drawn greater regulatory scrutiny, including in the United States and in Britain, because of the dominance of a few players and its increasingly critical role as more and more companies shift their services to the cloud.

In March, Google Cloud had accused Microsoft of anti-competitive cloud computing practices and criticized imminent deals with several European cloud vendors, saying these do not solve broader concerns about its licensing terms.

Earlier this year, the FTC had said it is seeking information from the public on the business practices of cloud computing companies, including details on their market power, competition and potential security issues.

Google and Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment, while the FTC declined to comment.

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar and Samrhitha Arunasalam in Bengaluru; Additional Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)