On September 25, 2024, Google filed a complaint with the European Commission against Microsoft, accusing the company of engaging in anti-competitive cloud licensing practices. Google claims that Microsoft forces customers to use its Azure cloud platform by imposing restrictive terms on its popular software products, such as Windows Server.

According to Amit Zavery, Google Cloud’s Vice President, Microsoft’s actions create vendor lock-in, limiting customers’ options and stifling competition in the cloud industry. Zavery emphasized that regulatory intervention is necessary to provide customers with a fair choice and to level the playing field for cloud service providers.

Google accused Microsoft of significantly raising the costs—up to 400%—for businesses that attempt to run Microsoft products like Windows Server on competing platforms, such as Google Cloud or Amazon Web Services (AWS). Google further highlighted that Microsoft’s licensing terms prevent European customers from migrating their existing workloads to other cloud providers, even though no technical barriers exist to do so.

Additionally, Google claimed that Microsoft has introduced more obstacles in recent years, including limiting security patches and creating interoperability barriers, making it harder for businesses to switch to alternative cloud services.

The complaint seeks to address these alleged anti-competitive practices and ensure more flexibility for business customers in choosing their cloud providers. This legal action could have far-reaching implications for the cloud industry, particularly in Europe, as it challenges Microsoft’s dominance in the sector.