EU Opens Antitrust Investigation Into Amazon and Microsoft Cloud Dominance
Tags Enterprise · Infrastructure · Policy
The European Commission launched a formal investigation into Amazon and Microsoft's cloud computing dominance, targeting anti-competitive practices in the IaaS and PaaS markets. The probe, reported June 26 by the Retail Gazette, examines whether the two largest cloud providers are leveraging market power to disadvantage competitors through bundling, pricing, and interoperability restrictions. The investigation follows the EU's earlier designation of cloud as a sector of strategic importance under the Digital Markets Act framework.
Technical significance
European cloud customers at scale may face forced interoperability requirements or find AWS/Azure bundling practices restricted. For CIOs running multi-cloud strategies in Europe, this could reduce vendor lock-in but also disrupt existing migration timelines and support contracts negotiated under current terms.