The search giant Google has initiated a new legal battle with Microsoft and accuses the company of using licensing agreements that hinder competition in the market for cloud services.
According to Google, the competitor's actions constitute a breach of the EU's competition rules.
If Microsoft is found guilty of anti-competitive practices, the fines could amount to up to 10 percent of the company's annual turnover.
Google also claims that Microsoft, through its dominance in cloud services, exposes EU citizens to security risks and the risk of IT problems. Microsoft refers, among other things, to how a faulty update of cybersecurity tools from Crowdstrike Holdings affected millions of users of the company's cloud services in July – which, among other things, knocked out computers used by banks, airports, stock exchanges, and companies around the world.
Google is number three in the market for cloud services after Microsoft and Amazon, but has gained ground among startups in the AI sector.
