Governments and regulators around the world are stepping up scrutiny of Microsoft, as concerns grow over the company’s market dominance across desktop software, cloud services, and emerging artificial intelligence technologies.

In the United Kingdom, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced it will launch a formal investigation into Microsoft to determine whether the company should be designated with “strategic market status” (SMS), a classification that would grant regulators expanded powers to intervene in its business practices. The investigation is scheduled to begin in May.

The move follows mounting complaints from businesses and consumers citing ongoing issues with Microsoft products, including instability in Windows, outages in cloud-based services, and performance concerns related to Microsoft 365.

The CMA said it has “major concerns” about Microsoft’s conduct in the cloud computing market, particularly around how its products—such as Office applications, Teams, Copilot, and the Windows operating system—interact to potentially limit competition.

Central to the regulatory scrutiny are allegations that Microsoft bundles products in ways that give its own services an advantage. Critics argue that integrating tools like Teams into Office, or linking cloud services with widely used productivity software, may disadvantage rival providers. Similar concerns were raised in the 1990s, when Microsoft faced antitrust action over bundling Internet Explorer with Windows.Microsoft Ignite

Regulators are also examining whether Microsoft’s licensing practices and pricing structures discourage customers from switching away from its Azure cloud platform, effectively locking users into its ecosystem.

Authorities in multiple jurisdictions are assessing whether Microsoft’s strength across software, cloud infrastructure, and AI—bolstered by investments in OpenAI and the integration of its Copilot assistant—allows the company to reinforce its market position and limit competition. A key concern is whether profits from established products are being used to gain an advantage in newer markets such as artificial intelligence.

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is leading a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s cloud computing, software licensing, and product bundling practices. The probe, spanning 2024 to 2026, is being described as one of the most significant cases involving the company since the landmark antitrust action of the late 1990s.

Elsewhere, regulators in the UK and Europe continue to examine the cloud services market. A previous CMA inquiry into Microsoft and Amazon resulted in commitments from both companies to improve interoperability and reduce so-called “egress fees,” which can make it costly for customers to move data between providers. The CMA said these changes are intended to reduce barriers for customers using multiple cloud platforms.

Microsoft has also faced additional regulatory attention in recent years, including a 2023 investigation into its partnership with OpenAI and a 2024 probe into its hiring of staff from AI startup Inflection.

While investigations remain ongoing, regulators globally appear increasingly aligned in their focus on whether Microsoft’s scale and integration across multiple technology sectors could be limiting competition in key digital markets.