EU accuses Microsoft of violating competition rules with Teams bundling #antitrust

The European Commission has accused Microsoft of breaching antitrust rules by bundling Teams with Office 365 and Microsoft 365 productivity apps. The Commission found that Microsoft’s dominance in the market for SaaS productivity apps restricts competition and gives Teams an unfair advantage. Margrethe Vestager, the executive VP of EU competition policy, expressed concerns that Microsoft may be giving Teams an “undue advantage” over competitors. Microsoft now has the opportunity to respond to these allegations, and if found guilty, could face fines of up to 10% of its annual worldwide turnover. In addition to this investigation, the EU has also sent Microsoft a request for information regarding Bing’s generative AI features, based on suspicions of breaching the Digital Services Act. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decided not to investigate Microsoft’s partnership with Mistral AI, citing concerns about whether the agreements between the two companies constituted a merger deal. Overall, the EU is closely monitoring Microsoft’s business practices to ensure fair competition in the market.

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Source link: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/microsoft-teams-bundling-office-365-eu-commission-competition-antitrust