Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) said on Friday that it dropped its antitrust complaint against Microsoft (MSFT) in the European Union over concerns about its cloud computing practices after regulators launched a new investigation against the Windows maker.
Google filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission against Microsoft in September 2024, accusing it of unfair licensing practices regarding its Azure cloud computing service.
Earlier this month, the E.C. opened investigations into Microsoft’s and Amazon’s (AMZN) dominance in cloud computing under the Digital Markets Act.
The first two probes will assess whether Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure should be classified as “gatekeepers” for their cloud computing services, and whether they act as important gateways between businesses and consumers. The inquiry comes even as the two services do not meet the DMA gatekeeper thresholds for size, user number and market position.
A third investigation will explore whether the DMA is “effective in addressing practices that limit competitiveness or are unfair in the cloud sector.”
Together, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google hold roughly 70% of the European cloud computing market, according to Synergy Research.
“The investigation will cover, for instance, obstacles to interoperability between cloud computing services, limited or conditioned access for business users to data, tying and bundling services, and potentially imbalanced contractual terms,” according to the commission’s statement.
The commission plans to conclude its probe in 12 months and publish a final report within 18 months. If Amazon (AMZN) or Microsoft (MSFT) are found to be gatekeeping their cloud computing services, they will have six months to ensure compliance with DMA rules.
(Seeking Alpha’s Preeti Singh contributed to this story.)