Google files antitrust complaint against Microsoft in Europe over cloud licensing practices

Google has filed a complaint with the European Commission (EC), alleging that Microsoft uses anti-competitive licensing practices to strongarm companies into staying on its Azure cloud infrastructure.

The complaint relates to a 2019 licensing change which made it more expensive to run Windows Server software on rival clouds. That change prompted European not-for-profit trade association Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) to file an antitrust complaint with the EC in 2022. In July, Microsoft settled for $22 million, reportedly. It promised that running Windows Server would become easier for CISPE members and at similar prices to Azure.

That settlement didn’t include Google, one of Microsoft’s main cloud rivals alongside public cloud market leader AWS, prompting the Alphabet subsidiary into taking its own action.

Microsoft is already facing European antitrust action on another front — in June, the EU accused the company of unfairly bundling Teams with other popular productivity apps.