The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched a comprehensive competition investigation into Microsoft Corp., which focuses on several areas of the company, such as its cloud computing unit, software licensing business, cybersecurity or artificial intelligence products.
The decision comes about a year after the FTC began making informal contacts with competitors and business partners. The researchers have now formalized a detailed request for Microsoft to hand over information, according to sources close to the process cited by Bloomberg.
This is followed by a meeting between FTC lawyers and Microsoft’s competitors so that they can gather more information about the business practices of the company founded by Bill Gates and currently led by CEO Satya Nadella.
The application, which is hundreds of pages long, was sent to the company with authorization from FTC President Lina Khan. The opening of the investigation will be one of the last measures taken by Khan, who has taken an aggressive stance in regulating several large North American companies.
It will be up to his successor, who has yet to be appointed by the US president-elect, to decide whether to continue with the investigation. The expectation is that Donald Trump will appoint a more flexible head in regulating American corporate power, so that the ongoing investigation into Microsoft – and other large companies – can be reviewed.
Source: www.jornaldenegocios.pt
