UK Regulator Launches Antitrust Probe into Microsoft and Amazon's Cloud Services

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft and Amazon over allegations of anti-competitive practices in the country's cloud infrastructure services market. The probe follows a report from Ofcom, which found that the market is highly concentrated and lacks competition. Last year, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS) held a combined market share of 70-80% in the UK, with Google as their closest competitor. Ofcom raised concerns about difficulties in switching providers and software licensing practices. Both Microsoft and Amazon said they would cooperate with the investigation, while AWS disagreed with Ofcom's findings, stating that the cloud has made switching between providers easier than ever.