Google has come out swinging against Microsoft, accusing its rival of unfair practices in the intensely competitive cloud computing market. Specifically, Google Cloud’s vice president Amit Zavery warns that Microsoft is trying to establish a “walled garden” that locks customers into its Azure platform.
Zavery argues that by bundling together its widely-used Office software and Azure cloud, Microsoft makes it hard for companies to choose alternative cloud providers. This echoes longstanding antitrust complaints against Microsoft leveraging its dominance in desktop software to conquer new areas like cloud.
And Google sees Microsoft’s new partnership with red-hot AI startup OpenAI as another bid to monopolize key technologies – this time in artificial intelligence. Integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot again makes Microsoft products more tempting, potentially squeezing out competitors.
For its part, Microsoft dismisses accusations of unfair tactics, framing moves like the OpenAI deal as innovations that benefit consumers.
But with cloud fast becoming the backbone of business technology, Google urges regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to curb Microsoft’s aggression now before it dominates yet another sphere. Failure to keep the cloud market open could stunt progress in cutting-edge AI tools that may one day drive entire industries.
Though Google currently lags behind Azure and Amazon’s AWS, it’s determined to catch up. And it’s clearly decided the best defense is a good offense by calling on trustbusters to step in. Whether regulators agree remains to be seen. But the escalating rhetoric makes one thing clear – there’s no love lost between these warring tech titans. The battle for cloud supremacy is only heating up.
