Google files EU antitrust complaint over Microsoft’s cloud practices

Google has filed an antitrust complaint to EU regulators, accusing Microsoft of unfair licensing contracts for its Azure cloud services. CNBC reports that Google, which is third behind Microsoft and Amazon in the cloud market, alleges that Microsoft uses licensing terms that make it difficult and expensive to use Windows Server and Office products on non-Azure cloud infrastructure.

Reuters reports that Google Cloud vice president Amit Zavery told reporters Microsoft made customers pay a 400 percent markup to continue using Windows Server on rival cloud providers but that this fee doesn’t apply on Azure.

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

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

Naturally, Microsoft isn’t happy with Google’s complaint. “Microsoft settled amicably similar concerns raised by European cloud providers, even after Google hoped they would keep litigating,” says Microsoft spokesperson Robin Koch in a statement to The Verge. “Having failed to persuade European companies, we expect Google similarly will fail to persuade the European Commission.”

Microsoft is also facing antitrust scrutiny over its cloud practices in the UK, where regulators are investigating Microsoft’s and Amazon’s cloud licensing practices. The Federal Trade Commission is looking into the AI investments of Microsoft, Amazon, and Google and how they’re linked to cloud services.