Google accuses Microsoft of abusing cloud dominance

Google has escalated a legal dispute with Microsoft over the lucrative cloud market, accusing the US software giant of abusing its market dominance in a formal complaint to the European Union’s antitrust authority.

The Alphabet unit alleged that Microsoft’s licensing terms for its Azure cloud services restrict customers’ access to rival platforms, including Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services. It said Microsoft’s conduct amounts to an abuse of dominance under EU law, according to a summary of the complaint.

It added that Microsoft’s dominance in the cloud sector exposes EU citizens to security risks and IT failures. It highlighted the turmoil that ensued in July when a flawed update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings crashed millions of Windows computers, crippling airports, banks, stock exchanges and businesses around the world.

The Brussels-based commission acknowledged the complaint and said it would now assess it under standard regulatory procedures. Google Cloud made a profit of $1.17 billion in the second quarter, beating analysts’ estimates of $982 million in operating income. Google still lags behind Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in the cloud computing market, but in the past year the unit has attracted business from artificial intelligence startups.