cloud competition

Japan’s competition watchdog has opened a formal probe of Microsoft’s cloud business, focusing on whether commercial and technical conditions tied to Microsoft 365, Windows Server and other key software steer customers toward Azure and disadvantage rival cloud platforms — and the agency has...

The long-running feud between John Donovan and Shell plc has re‑entered a modern, high‑stakes phase: an AI‑amplified “bot war” that has prompted renewed legal posturing from Shell, intensified public debate over corporate brand protection tactics, and raised new questions about how multinational...

Japan’s antitrust watchdog carried out an on-site inspection of Microsoft Japan’s Tokyo offices this week as investigators probe whether the company used licensing terms or technical measures to steer customers toward Microsoft Azure and make Microsoft software harder or more expensive to run on...

Microsoft’s Japanese unit was visited by investigators from the Japan Fair Trade Commission on February 25, 2026, in what regulators describe as an on‑site inspection into whether commercial and technical practices tied to Microsoft’s software and cloud offerings steered customers toward Azure...

Japan’s competition watchdog has carried out an on-site inspection of Microsoft’s Tokyo offices as part of a probe into whether the software giant’s local unit improperly shaped cloud contracts and product compatibility to favor Azure — allegations that, if upheld, would add Japan to a growing...

The Japan Fair Trade Commission carried out an on-site inspection of Microsoft Japan’s Tokyo offices on February 25, 2026, probing whether the local unit used licensing terms, pricing and commercial messaging to steer customers toward Microsoft Azure and to disadvantage rival cloud providers...

Microsoft Japan was visited by officials from the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) on February 25, 2026, as part of a formal probe into whether the company’s local unit used its dominance in key software to steer customers toward Microsoft Azure and away from rival cloud platforms. The JFTC’s...

The Japan Fair Trade Commission’s on-site inspection of Microsoft Japan on February 25, 2026, marks the latest—and potentially most consequential—chapter in a global run of antitrust scrutiny targeting cloud-platform practices by hyperscalers. Reporters say investigators entered Microsoft’s...

Japan’s competition enforcers have executed an on-site inspection of Microsoft’s Japanese offices after local media and international reporting said the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) is investigating whether Microsoft improperly limited customers’ ability to run Microsoft software on rival...

Microsoft’s stock narrative has a rare crack: Stifel downgraded the company from Buy to Hold, slashed its price target from $540 to $392 and signalled that the market’s expectation for Azure-driven revenue acceleration may be overly optimistic given capacity constraints, steep AI infrastructure...

Antitrust enforcers across the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union have zeroed in on the commercial plumbing of the internet — the hyperscale cloud providers — to ask a blunt question: are today’s dominant cloud contracts and pricing practices deliberately sticky, and are...

Microsoft will tell judges at the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) that a proposed mass claim accusing it of anti‑competitive cloud licensing practices should be struck out because the plaintiffs’ methodology for proving common liability and quantifying loss is flawed, a move that puts the...

Google Cloud has formally withdrawn the antitrust complaint it lodged with the European Commission in September 2024 over Microsoft’s cloud licensing practices, a tactical retreat that coincides with the Commission’s own decision to open market investigations into cloud computing services —...

Alphabet’s Google has quietly withdrawn its formal complaint against Microsoft over Azure cloud practices in the European Union, a strategic retreat that follows the European Commission’s decision to open a broader market inquiry into cloud computing under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This...

Alphabet’s Google has formally withdrawn the European Union antitrust complaint it lodged against Microsoft over alleged anti‑competitive cloud‑licensing practices, a move announced on November 28, 2025 that comes just days after the European Commission launched a coordinated set of market...

Google’s sudden withdrawal of its European Union antitrust complaint against Microsoft’s cloud business marks a notable pivot in one of the most consequential tech rivalries of the decade: a strategic retreat that shifts the battleground from regulatory filings back into public policy debates...

Google’s abrupt decision to withdraw its formal antitrust complaint against Microsoft in the European Union is the clearest signal yet that the dispute over cloud competition has shifted from company-level litigation toward regulatory enforcement under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), handing the...

Google has quietly withdrawn the antitrust complaint it lodged in 2024 against Microsoft’s cloud licensing practices, a tactical pivot that hands the agenda to Brussels as the European Commission proceeds with high‑stakes market investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into whether...

Google quietly withdrew its formal EU antitrust complaint against Microsoft’s cloud business just days after the European Commission launched a trio of market investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a move that immediately re-centres the dispute from a bilateral legal fight into a...

Google has formally withdrawn its EU antitrust complaint accusing Microsoft of using licensing and pricing practices to advantage Azure and lock customers into Microsoft’s cloud, a tactical retreat announced the same week the European Commission opened formal market investigations into the cloud...