On March 12, Reuters reported that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is continuing an antitrust investigation into Microsoft that began during the Biden administration's final days. The FTC staff has recently been holding meetings with companies and other entities to gather information.
Last year, Reuters had disclosed that the FTC initiated a broad antitrust inquiry into Microsoft, focusing on its software licensing and cloud computing operations.
The investigation, endorsed by former FTC chair Lina Khan before her departure, transitioned to new chair Andrew Ferguson following President Donald Trump's inauguration in January.
The FTC is scrutinizing claims that Microsoft may be leveraging its market dominance in productivity software by imposing restrictive licensing terms to deter customers from switching from its Azure cloud service to competitors.
The agency has requested specifics from Microsoft regarding its data centers, efforts to meet computing demands, upcoming licensing changes, and the decision to reduce funding for proprietary artificial intelligence projects in collaboration with OpenAI.
Additionally, the FTC is examining Microsoft's cybersecurity and artificial intelligence practices. Microsoft and the FTC have not provided immediate comments on the matter.