The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has increased its scrutiny of Microsoft Corp.'s business practices in areas that include enterprise computing, cloud software and artificial intelligence, according to reporting. Regulators recently issued civil investigative demands - effectively civil subpoenas - to several companies that compete with Microsoft in business software and cloud computing.
Those requests, sent in recent weeks to at least six rival firms, contain detailed queries about Microsoft's licensing arrangements and other aspects of how it sells and structures its products. The FTC is seeking information that could show whether Microsoft makes it more difficult for customers to run Windows, Office and other software on competing cloud services.
Investigators are also probing how Microsoft bundles emerging capabilities with its core software offerings. The agency has asked for details on the packaging of artificial intelligence tools, security features and identity-management software with established products such as Windows and Office.
According to the account of the inquiry, the investigation was opened during the final period of the previous administration's FTC leadership. It is continuing under the current agency chair, and staff have been meeting with companies and other groups to collect information relevant to the probe.
The matter remains an active investigation. No final conclusions have been reached, and the FTC's investigative process does not always produce enforcement actions.
What regulators are requesting and whom they have questioned are central to understanding the scope of the inquiry. The civil investigative demands sent to competing business-software and cloud providers include numerous questions about product licensing and go-to-market approaches. The agency's stated focus areas include potential restrictions on customer choice when migrating or running Microsoft products on alternative cloud infrastructure, and the extent to which newer capabilities - notably AI, security, and identity services - are bundled with long-standing desktop and productivity offerings.
For market participants, the investigation touches several parts of the technology ecosystem. Enterprise computing and cloud-service providers are directly implicated by the document requests; enterprise software vendors and developers of AI-enabled tools may also be affected by any findings related to bundling practices. The FTC's ongoing engagement with industry actors indicates the agency is assembling information from multiple perspectives as it evaluates whether to move forward with enforcement.
At this stage, the agency has not announced enforcement steps. The investigation's continuation under the current leadership and its reliance on civil investigative demands reflect a fact-finding phase in which regulators are gathering evidence from competitors and industry stakeholders.