Legal battle escalates! Google complains to the European Union, accusing Microsoft of abusing its market dominance

Google formally complained to the EU antitrust regulators on Wednesday, accusing Microsoft of abusing its dominant market position, escalating the fierce legal battle between Google and Microsoft in the cloud computing market.

Google claims that Microsoft's licensing terms for Azure cloud services restrict customer access to competitors' platforms, including Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Google stated that, according to EU law, Microsoft's actions constitute an abuse of its dominant market position.

Google also pointed out that Microsoft's dominant position in cloud computing could pose security risks and threats of information technology failures to EU citizens. Google specifically mentioned that in July this year, a faulty update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. caused millions of Windows computers to crash, affecting multiple airports, banks, stock exchanges, and businesses globally, leading to chaos.

Media reports indicate that just before Google filed the complaint, Microsoft had reached an agreement with a smaller European cloud company, avoiding a formal EU investigation. Google had attempted to block the settlement but was unsuccessful. Under EU antitrust laws, fines for violations could amount to up to 10% of a company's annual revenue.

However, Microsoft stated that they do not expect Google's allegations to gain support from EU regulatory authorities.

"While Google had hoped these companies would continue litigation, Microsoft has resolved similar concerns with European cloud providers in a friendly manner," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "As Google failed to convince European companies, we expect Google will also fail to convince the European Commission."

Currently, the European Commission has confirmed receipt of the complaint and stated that it will evaluate it according to standard procedures.

According to financial reports, Google Cloud's profit in the second quarter was $1.17 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations of $982 million in revenue. Although Google still lags behind Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud computing market, the department has attracted a large number of AI startups' businesses in the past year.

Analysts believe that the public dispute between Google and Microsoft over dominance in cloud computing is reminiscent of the dispute years ago over the abuse of Windows' dominant position. In 2009, Microsoft finally agreed to open its operating system to support competitors' browsers to alleviate the increasing antitrust threats from the EU at that time.

Meanwhile, the EU has been taking frequent antitrust actions this year, with Google and Microsoft both being targeted.

A previous article by Wall Street News stated that EU officials are preparing to formally sue Google under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). EU regulators have issued a final warning to Google that if it does not address the EU's concerns and take prompt action to highlight competitors' products more prominently in search services, Google could face hefty fines, potentially up to 10% of the company's global annual revenue. Preliminary investigation results may be announced by the end of October this year, and the EU is expected to make a final ruling by the end of March next year.

The relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI is also under EU scrutiny. A previous article by Wall Street News stated that EU regulators previously conducted a merger control review of Microsoft's $13 billion investment in OpenAI However, due to insufficient evidence, the cancellation was revoked, and now there are plans to conduct a more in-depth anti-monopoly investigation into the transaction