Google files EU antitrust complaint over Microsoft’s cloud practices

Google has filed an antitrust complaint with EU regulators accusing Microsoft of unfair licensing agreements for its Azure cloud services. CNBC reports that Google, which ranks third after Microsoft and Amazon in the cloud computing market, is accusing Microsoft of using licensing terms that make it difficult and expensive to use Windows Server and Office products on cloud infrastructures other than Azure.

Reuters Agency Reports say Google Cloud Vice President Amit Zavery told reporters that Microsoft is asking customers to pay a 400 percent markup to continue using Windows Server with competing cloud providers, but that fee does not apply to Azure.

Google’s complaint comes just months after Microsoft reached a settlement with an industry group backed by European cloud infrastructure providers that had raised similar concerns about Microsoft’s licensing practices. The group, Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), agreed to withdraw its 2022 EU complaint with a deal that would allow European cloud providers to offer Microsoft apps and services on their local cloud infrastructure. Google, of course, wasn’t on that list.

CISPE is also creating an independent European Cloud Observatory (ECO) made up of Microsoft, cloud infrastructure providers in Europe and European customer associations. Amazon Web Services was critical of the deal in July, noting that Microsoft was making only “limited concessions to some CISPE members that demonstrate there are no technical barriers preventing it from doing what is right for every cloud customer.”

Microsoft, of course, is not happy with Google’s complaint. “Microsoft has amicably resolved similar concerns raised by European cloud providers, even after Google had hoped they would continue the lawsuit,” Microsoft spokesman Robin Koch said in a statement to Edge“Given that it failed to convince European companies, we expect Google will similarly fail to convince the European Commission.”

Microsoft is also facing antitrust scrutiny over its cloud practices in the U.K., where regulators are investigating the cloud licensing practices of Microsoft and Amazon. The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the artificial intelligence investments of Microsoft, Amazon and Google and how they are linked to cloud services.