The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft (MSFT), covering multiple areas including cloud computing, software licensing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. (Background: Google Shockwave) The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly set to demand the forced sale of Chrome to combat Google's search monopoly. (Additional context: MakerDAO has confirmed its name change to Sky! The four major whales 'monopolized voting' USDS jumps to become the third largest stablecoin) The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially started an antitrust investigation into Microsoft (MSFT), focusing on the company's business in cloud computing, software licensing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. This investigation began a year ago, with the FTC conducting informal interviews with Microsoft's competitors and partners, and requesting hundreds of pages of relevant documents from Microsoft. Market Monopoly One of the main focuses of this investigation is whether Microsoft has further strengthened its dominance in the market by bundling office productivity and security software with cloud products. The FTC is particularly concerned about Microsoft's management issues in the cybersecurity field and is expanding its review of Microsoft's cloud computing business. Microsoft's vulnerabilities in cybersecurity, along with its unique position as a government contractor, have led the FTC to believe that the company's market influence could distort competition. The investigation also involves a deep review of Microsoft's security software Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory). This software is used to authenticate user logins to cloud applications but has also been accused of potentially restricting competitors' market entry. Competitor Reactions According to a report by Reuters yesterday (27th), Microsoft's competitors have strongly criticized the company's business practices, especially in the cloud services sector, accusing Microsoft of forcing customers to only use its Azure cloud platform. The FTC has received similar complaints from competitors in the past during its reviews of the cloud computing market. The lobbying group NetChoice, representing Amazon and Google, has also expressed dissatisfaction with Microsoft's licensing policies, particularly regarding the integration of AI tools in its Office and Outlook products. The organization stated: "Given that Microsoft is the largest software company in the world and dominates productivity and operating system software, the scale and consequences of its licensing decisions are extraordinary." Google complained to the European Commission in September about Microsoft's practices, stating that it forced customers to pay a 400% markup to continue running Windows Server on competitors' cloud computing platforms, and provided them with later and more limited security updates. Antitrust Investigation Currently, large tech companies like Facebook's META (META), Apple (AAPL), and Amazon (AMZN) are facing antitrust allegations from the U.S. government, accusing them of maintaining illegal monopolies in the market. Alphabet (GOOGL) is facing two lawsuits, with one judge believing that Google has engaged in illegal actions to hinder competition in search engines. Despite the increasing number of antitrust investigations facing large tech companies, it remains unclear whether regulations on these companies would be relaxed if Trump were to be re-elected as president. The Trump administration initiated several investigations into tech giants during its first term, and incoming Vice President JD Vance has also expressed concerns about the influence of large tech companies in the public domain. Andre Barlow, a lawyer at Doyle Barlow & Mazard law firm, pointed out that the Trump administration had previously sued Google and Facebook, stating: "The Trump administration was very aggressive in enforcing antitrust laws." Despite the stricter antitrust regulations on large tech companies in the U.S., Microsoft has benefitted from the Trump administration's policies in the past. In 2019, the Pentagon awarded Microsoft a $10 billion cloud computing contract, even though Amazon was considered the strongest competitor for the contract at that time. Amazon subsequently accused Trump of exerting undue pressure on military officials to transfer the contract from Amazon Web Services to Microsoft. Related Reports Google Shockwave) The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly set to demand the forced sale of Chrome to combat Google's search monopoly. MakerDAO has confirmed its name change to Sky! The four major whales 'monopolized voting' USDS jumps to become the third largest stablecoin. Is Google facing forced demerger? The U.S. Department of Justice recommends: splitting businesses, limiting agreements, publicizing search data... combating monopolies. "The U.S. FTC launches an 'antitrust investigation' into Microsoft, covering cloud computing, software licensing, and AI business all nailed down." This article was originally published on BlockTempo (the most influential blockchain news media).