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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Bloomberg reported in July 2024 that Google offered the European cloud trade group CISPE a package valued at about €470 million to persuade it to maintain its complaint about Microsoft’s cloud licensing practices. The reported package included cash and software licences. CISPE instead settled with Microsoft and withdrew its complaint that month. The reported offer has not been established here as an official finding of wrongdoing, and the European Commission—not CISPE or Google—decides whether to investigate competition concerns.
What was Google’s reported €470 million offer?
Bloomberg reported on 16 July 2024, citing confidential documents and people familiar with the matter, that Google had proposed a package worth approximately €470 million to CISPE, or Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe. The package was described as combining cash and software licences. Fortune and Network World also reported the figure, citing Bloomberg’s account.
The €470 million amount is Bloomberg’s reported valuation of the proposed package, not an official European Commission valuation. The available reporting does not establish that the package was finalized or transferred, and no directly attributable on-record Google statement confirming the precise proposal is identified in these accounts.
Why had CISPE complained about Microsoft?
CISPE filed its complaint against Microsoft in November 2022. The trade group alleged that Microsoft’s cloud software licensing practices disadvantaged rival cloud infrastructure providers. That was the complainant’s allegation, not an adjudicated conclusion that Microsoft had violated competition law.
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In July 2024, CISPE settled with Microsoft and withdrew its complaint. Bloomberg described Google’s reported offer as an unsuccessful attempt to persuade CISPE to keep the complaint alive. CISPE’s decision concerned its own complaint; it did not determine whether the Commission would investigate Microsoft.
What happened to Google’s separate EU complaint?
Google later pursued a separate route. On 25 September 2024, it filed its own complaint with the European Commission alleging that Microsoft’s cloud licensing practices restricted competition. The Commission confirmed it had received the complaint and said it would assess it under standard procedures.
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That later complaint was distinct from CISPE’s 2022 complaint: Google was the complainant, and CISPE’s July 2024 settlement did not dispose of Google’s filing. ITPro reported on 1 December 2025 that Google had withdrawn its complaint.
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What the reported offer does—and does not—show
- It shows what Bloomberg reported: Google proposed a package valued at about €470 million in an effort to persuade CISPE to maintain its complaint.
- It does not establish a legal finding: the sources identified here do not show that the Commission found the reported offer unlawful.
- It does not settle the Microsoft licensing allegations: CISPE’s complaint was withdrawn after its settlement, while the available account of Google’s later complaint ends with its reported withdrawal.
- It does not mean Google controlled a Commission probe: CISPE was the complainant, but the Commission was responsible for assessing whether to pursue competition concerns.
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