Microsoft chief says unfair practices by Google led to search engine dominance October 3, 2023 Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has said unfair tactics used by Google led to its dominance as a search engine and in turn thwarted his own company’s rival programme, Bing. He gave evidence in a packed Washington DC courtroom as part of the government’s landmark antitrust trial against Google’s parent company Alphabet. The Justice Department [...]
Game over no more: Microsoft’s Activison tie-up given provisional OK by regulator September 22, 2023 Microsoft's restructured acquisition of Activision Blizzard "opens the door" to the deal being cleared, Britain's antitrust regulator said on Friday.
Microsoft to unbundle Teams from Office in bid to avert EU antitrust fine August 31, 2023 Microsoft will unbundle its chat and video app Teams from its Office product and make it easier for rival products to work with its software, the US company said on Thursday in a move aimed at staving off a possible EU antitrust fine. The proposed changes came a month after the European Commission launched an [...]
It took Big Tech firms just six days to pay off $2bn in fines, new data shows August 30, 2023 Big Tech firms paid over $2bn (£1.6bn) in fines this year. But new data shows it took them just over six days to pay them off.
Will Microsoft and Activision Blizzard finally get the green light? August 22, 2023 Britain’s competition watchdog faces a tough call on whether to wave through Microsoft and Activision Blizzard’s merger as the EU and the US have done, but a green light could be down the road, experts have suggested. Microsoft’s renewed $69bn acquisition offer for gaming giant Activision Blizzard has triggered a new probe by the Competition [...]
Microsoft offers new Activision Blizzard deal to UK competition watchdog August 22, 2023 Microsoft has put a fresh deal on the table for its $69bn (£55bn) acquisition of gaming giant Activision Blizzard, triggering a new investigation by Britain’s competition watchdog. On Tuesday the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed it is blocking the original deal to protect consumer choice in cloud gaming. However, Microsoft has submitted a fresh [...]
CMA aims for decision on £55bn Microsoft-Activision deal by 29 August July 31, 2023 The UK’s competition watchdog has opened up its inquiry into Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal for comments, as it aims for a final decision by Aug. 29 on a £55bn takeover it had previously blocked in April. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also on Monday published Microsoft’s arguments explaining why the deal should be re-evaluated, as the [...]
EU launches investigation into Microsoft’s bundling of Office and Teams after Slack complaint July 27, 2023 The European Union will investigate Microsoft over its bundling of Office and Teams. Thursday’s announcement comes amid fears the packaging of productivity software Office with messaging and videoconferencing app Teams gives the tech giant an unfair edge over competitors. The 27-nation bloc’s top competition enforcer, the European Commission, said it will carry out the probe [...]
Google and Microsoft AI showdown continues July 26, 2023 After Microsoft and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, reported better-than-expected results yesterday, analysts say the race to dominate the burgeoning AI field is moving quickly. Alphabet’s robust performance saw a 3.3 per cent surge in ad revenue, as search revenue hit $42.63bn (£32.98bn), causing shares to climb six per cent on Wednesday. Despite the market applause, [...]
Microsoft charges ahead with spending to serve AI demand July 26, 2023 Microsoft on Tuesday laid out an aggressive spending plan to meet demand for its new artificial intelligence services after surpassing Wall Street estimates for fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and profit. Costs rose sharply as Microsoft built new data centers to support AI, and Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said on a conference call with analysts the company’s capital expenditures [...]