The Federal Trade Commission is reported to be investigating Microsoft’s cloud, software-licensing and bundling practices, with more questions about AI-related offerings reported in 2026. The concerns described in news reports are investigative leads, not findings that Microsoft broke antitrust law. The available reporting does not establish that the FTC has filed a complaint or resolved the investigation.
What is the FTC investigating Microsoft for?
Reuters reported in November 2024 that the FTC had opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s software licensing and cloud-computing practices. Among the reported concerns: Microsoft’s licensing terms might make it harder or more expensive for customers to move data from Azure to rival cloud platforms. Those details came from people familiar with the matter, not from a public FTC finding. Reuters’ November 2024 report and its related reporting described the inquiry’s scope.
In December 2024, ProPublica reported that FTC attorneys had interviewed or arranged meetings with competitors and that the agency had sent Microsoft a civil investigative demand, a formal request for information. Microsoft confirmed receiving it. The reported interest included how Microsoft packages Office products with cybersecurity and cloud services. The FTC declined to comment to ProPublica. Microsoft spokesperson David Cuddy called the demand “broad, wide ranging, and requests things that are out of the realm of possibility to even be logical.” ProPublica’s account documents those statements.
Why licensing and bundling matter to competition
The central question behind these reported concerns is whether customers and business rivals can compete on fair terms. Cloud customers may rely on a provider’s infrastructure to store data and run applications. If licensing terms or other costs make moving that work difficult, customers may have fewer practical alternatives. That is a competition theory the agency may examine; the public reporting does not establish that Microsoft actually blocked customers from leaving Azure.
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Bundling raises a related question: whether combining products—such as Office, security, identity or cloud services—creates advantages that rivals cannot match, or makes it harder for customers to choose separate providers. The reports describe FTC interest in these practices, not a finding that bundling was unlawful.
What the 2026 reporting adds about AI
On February 13, 2026, Reuters reported Bloomberg’s account that the FTC was seeking answers from Microsoft competitors about licensing and other business practices. Reuters said at least half a dozen companies had received civil investigative requests. The reported subject matter included bundling AI, security and identity software into Microsoft offerings. This is a report about information gathering, not a public FTC conclusion; Reuters said Microsoft and the FTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters’ February 2026 report attributes the account to Bloomberg.
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How the separate FTC AI-partnership study fits
The FTC’s January 2025 staff report on cloud-provider partnerships with AI developers, including Microsoft–OpenAI, is useful context but is separate from the reported Microsoft antitrust investigation. It discusses potential competition effects of such partnerships: access to computing capacity and engineering talent, switching costs, contractual or technical limits on using multiple cloud providers, and access to sensitive technical or business information. The report describes general risks, not a finding that Microsoft violated antitrust law in the investigation.
The FTC said the study reflected staff information through September 2024 and publicly available information through January 2025. In the release, then-Chair Lina M. Khan said: “The FTC’s report sheds light on how partnerships by big tech firms can create lock-in, deprive start-ups of key AI inputs, and reveal sensitive information that can undermine fair competition.” Read the FTC’s January 17, 2025 release and the staff report.
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Has the FTC filed a case against Microsoft?
An investigation and a civil investigative demand are not the same as a filed antitrust complaint or a court ruling. The reporting cited here does not establish a public FTC complaint, final agency conclusion, settlement or court decision concerning this investigation. It therefore does not support saying that Microsoft has been found to have violated antitrust law. The inquiry’s eventual outcome is not established by these reports.
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