Microsoft Azure business to be investigated by FTC: report

Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) cloud computing business is likely to be investigated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for anti-competitive practices, the Financial Times reported.

Shares of the tech giant rose 0.4% in midday trading on Thursday.

The Lina Khan-led agency is looking into whether Microsoft has abused its power in the productivity software market by making it harder — or preventing altogether — customers from moving their data on Microsoft’s Azure cloud to competitors, the news outlet added, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Microsoft Azure, Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) Cloud Platforms and Amazon (AMZN) Web Services are the three largest cloud service providers by market share, according to Canalys.

Issues at hand include potentially “substantially” increasing subscription fees for customers that leave, charging “steep” exit fees and making Office 365 software incompatible with other clouds, the people added. The news outlet noted that the FTC has not yet formally asked Microsoft for documents or other information, and timing on the matter is unclear.

Further complicating matters is the prospect of a new presidential administration, and the potential for Khan to be replaced as head of the FTC. However, tech companies have come under the scrutiny from Republicans Democrats alike, and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance praised her for “doing a pretty good job” during the campaign.

Microsoft declined to comment on the matter.

(This story has been updated with a decline to comment from Microsoft.)