Cloud activities and the offering of cloud licenses software and artificial intelligence (AI) from Microsoft are under the scrutiny of the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This government body is evaluating possible market abuses by the company founded by Bill Gates.
As says the agency Reutersat the center of the investigation are Microsoft’s licensing policies that commission chair Lina Khan says restrict customers’ freedom to transfer data from the Azure cloud service to competing platforms. The FTC is also examining practices related to cybersecurity products and the integration of AI tools into applications such as Office and Outlook.
The belief of some of Microsoft’s competitors, including companies represented by the NetChoice lobbying group, is that the company led by Satya Nadella has implemented policies aimed at tying customers to its cloud services. The European Commission has leveled similar accusations against Google, which also revealed overpricing and delays in security updates for those using Windows Server on rival cloud platforms.
According to a report from the British news agency, the FTC has also requested detailed information from Microsoft to understand in depth the company’s agreements with startups of artificial intelligence, such as Inflection AI.
The company founded by Bill Gates is thus facing a difficulty that until now had not affected it as much as other global technology giants such as Meta, Apple, Amazon and Alphabet. With Donald Trump’s victory, only the appointment of a new chairman of the Federal Trade Commission could change the agency’s approach to the corporate policies of the various technology giants.
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