- The CMA is launching a strategic market status study of Microsoft software that could take nine months
- UK regulators are concerned that the company is bundling its software together for an unfair advantage
- Microsoft has already entered into an agreement with the CMA on cloud interoperability
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that it will begin a Strategic Market Status (SMS) investigation into Microsoft software in May 2026, likely to cover the Windows operating system, Office productivity software and Copilot AI assistant.
Copilot more than the others is likely to have prompted this action, with the CMA seeking to ensure a level playing field by preventing Microsoft from gaining an unfair advantage.
As always, CMA is focusing on interoperability here, looking for a solution that can let customers mix and match AI and productivity tools across multiple providers.
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Microsoft faces another antitrust probe
On the cloud front, Microsoft has already promised to improve interoperability and remove cloud exit fees to make it easier for UK customers to switch or use multi-cloud setups, but now the CMA is cracking down on the company’s productivity software.
“We’ve seen real progress through our engagement with Microsoft and Amazon to create meaningful improvements to exit fees and interoperability, and we expect more action from them over the coming months,” CEO Sarah Cardell wrote.
Mark Boost, chief executive of UK cloud provider Civo, praised the probe’s intentions but criticized it for “not providing[ing] appropriate solutions to address the serious issues surrounding the dominance of these key foreign-based hyperscalers.”
CMA’s Cardell envisions a process where the body can deliver rapid and proportionate impact across the cloud and software markets to save customers money in real time, but with the SMS likely to take up to nine months, we are unlikely to see any immediate impact.
Microsoft says it has already eliminated exit fees globally for customers switching providers, offering them a free switching window of 180 days (up from 60) as well as free data transfers.
Company president Brad Smith also explained that Microsoft agrees with the principles of moving workloads freely, running across multiple clouds and preventing vendor lock-in.
“We are committed to working swiftly and constructively to resolve these issues, including by providing all the information the CMA needs to move forward with its reviews,” Smith said.
Smith also drew attention to Google — a company that has already filed complaints about Microsoft and Amazon’s dominance. Google Cloud’s revenue grew 48% last quarter (compared to 18% overall company revenue growth), while AWS and Microsoft Cloud’s revenue grew by a much smaller 24-26% in the same quarter.
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