The US antitrust agency is preparing to take action against tech giant Microsoft.
On November 27th local time, according to foreign media reports, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States launched a comprehensive antitrust investigation into Microsoft, involving the company's cloud computing, software licensing business, network security products, and AI products.
According to insiders, the FTC has conducted more than a year of informal inquiries into Microsoft's competitors and business partners, and has developed a hundreds of page investigative document. This document has been sent to Microsoft after being signed and approved by FTC Chairman Lina Khan, requesting Microsoft to provide relevant business information. In addition, FTC's antitrust lawyers plan to meet with Microsoft's competitors next week.
It is understood that the current focus of FTC's investigation is on Microsoft bundling its office software, security software, and cloud computing products for sale. Due to Microsoft's strong influence as a US government contractor, coupled with multiple cybersecurity incidents including the "Microsoft Blue Screen" incident in July this year, the FTC has long harbored grievances against this tech giant. Two years ago, the FTC attempted to block Microsoft's plan to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, but was unsuccessful.
In addition, the FTC's investigation also focuses on businesses related to Microsoft Entra ID, a Microsoft authentication solution that helps users verify and log in to cloud software. Some Microsoft competitors who provide authentication and network security services have told the FTC that Microsoft's licensing terms and bundling authentication applications with cloud services make it difficult for them to compete.
For example, companies such as Zoom, a video conferencing software company, and Slack, a team collaboration and communication software under Salesforce, have stated that Microsoft's bundling of its video conferencing software Teams with popular office software such as Word and Excel for users is anti competitive.
A comprehensive investigation into Microsoft may become Lena Khan's last major move before stepping down as FTC chairman. Since becoming the chairman of the FTC in 2021, Khan has been closely monitoring the monopoly issues in the US technology industry, leading antitrust investigations against tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google's parent company Alphabet, and OpenAI.
Although US President elect Donald Trump may relax regulations on tech giants in the future, the future remains an unknown factor for the US tech industry shrouded in antitrust shadows. At present, the most closely watched anti-monopoly event in the world is undoubtedly the US Department of Justice's request to split Google, suggesting that the federal court require Google to sell its Chrome browser.
In an antitrust lawsuit over 20 years ago, Microsoft faced the danger of "splitting up" due to bundling browsers into the Windows operating system. The company ultimately paid the US government a settlement fee of up to $1.8 billion, was banned from participating in exclusive transactions that could harm competitors, and was required to open up some of its source code.
In addition, Sarah Bond, the President of Microsoft Xbox, announced on the X (formerly Twitter) platform on the evening of the 27th that due to a court order, the company will postpone the release of a new version of the Xbox Android app that allows users to purchase games on mobile devices. This may be due to the impact of Google's App Store losing a case filed by American gaming company Epic Games and being ruled by a federal court for illegal monopoly. In October of this year, the court ordered Google to open its App Store for the next three years, and Google has planned to appeal the ruling.
On the 27th, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) stock price fell 1.17% to close at $422.99 per share, with a total market value of $3.06 trillion.