Microsoft informed of yet another antitrust probe by US authorities

Investigation is apparently sweeping, but keen on info about AI, security, and cloud

The US Federal Trade Commission appears to have launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft.

News of the probe was first reported by Bloomberg. The Washington Post and CNN have since also found anonymous sources willing to tell them that the regulator has asked Microsoft to provide it with info on its cloud, AI, and infosec businesses.

The Commission (FTC) is silent on the matter – and probably will be until next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday – but it's not hard to guess what might concern it.

On the cloud front, European authorities have problems with the fact Microsoft's best deals for its software are offered only to Azure customers. Microsoft has made some concessions, but Google wants more action and has helped to form a group of Euro-clouds that's lobbying for change.

Microsoft's security activities could matter in two ways. One is the unfortunate tendency of its products and services to have flaws that allow very bad things like Chinese spies cracking Exchange Online and reading government officials' emails. Another is Defender's inclusion in Windows making rival antivirus tools all-but-redundant.

To consider possible AI-related actions we must look to Europe, where regulators have pondered whether Microsoft's very close partnerships with OpenAI and similar arrangements are designed to avoid the scrutiny that comes with an acquisition, but allow the same kind of market dominance.

Microsoft is no stranger to antitrust cases in the US, where the 1998–2001 US vs Microsoft case saw the software giant found to have a monopoly on PC operating systems and ordered to break itself up into one org to produce OSes and another for other software.

A subsequent settlement made that remedy unnecessary, after Microsoft promised to change some of its practices – and the value of that arrangement can perhaps be seen in Redmond's failure to develop a viable ecosystem for its mobile operating systems (which were mostly dire until Windows Phone 7).

This case is not certain to get off the ground. The incoming Trump administration has already signalled current FTC chair Lina Khan will not be retained, and actions she instigated could be halted.

However, Trump's proposed Federal Communications Commission head, Brendan Carr, is also no fan of Big Tech and has labelled Microsoft a participant in a "censorship cartel." Trump buddy Elon Musk has also opposed Microsoft's OpenAI deal. If those positions are shared by other senior administration appointees, Microsoft could have interesting times ahead. ®