- Brazil lifts ban on Musk's X, ending standoff over disinformation
- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
- Brazil Supreme Court lifts ban on Musk's X
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Six-year-old girl among missing after Brazil landslide
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Mexico president rules out new 'war on drugs'
- Israeli defense minister postpones trip to Washington: Pentagon
- Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder return
- Kenya MPs vote to impeach deputy president in historic move
- Former US coach Berhalter named Chicago Fire head coach
- New York Jets fire head coach Saleh: team
- Australia crush New Zealand in Women's T20 World Cup
- US states accuse TikTok of harming young users
- 'Evacuate now, now, now': Florida braces for next hurricane
- US Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to 'ghost guns' regulation
- Sparks fly as Orban berates EU 'elites' in parliament trip
- US finalizes rule to remove lead pipes within a decade
- Solanke hungry for second England cap after seven-year wait
- Gilded canopy restored at Vatican basilica
- Zverev scrapes through, Djokovic cruises to Shanghai Masters last 16
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Gauff answers critics: 'It's hard to win all the time'
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- China says raised 'serious concerns' with US over trade curbs
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of other sex crimes
- Italy seek Nations League consistency as Germany continue rebuild
- From boom to budgeting as reality bites for Saudi football
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- England 96-1 after Salman's century lifts Pakistan to 556
- Hollywood star Idris Elba champions African cinema in Ghana
- Djokovic rolls Cobolli to make Shanghai Masters last 16
- Milan's Hernandez receives two-game suspension after referee rant
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Ex-Barcelona and Spain great Iniesta retires aged 40
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Ex-skipper Skelton eyes Wallabies November return
- Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement
- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
EU accuses Microsoft of abusing dominant position with Teams
Microsoft violated EU antitrust rules by bundling its Teams communications app with its popular Office suite, Brussels said on Tuesday, as the US tech giant vowed to do what it takes to address competition concerns.
The charge sheet comes after the European Commission, the EU's influential antitrust regulator, launched a probe last year triggered by a 2020 complaint from Slack.
The commission informed Microsoft of its "preliminary view" that it had "breached EU antitrust rules" by bundling Teams with its cloud-based Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites, which include Word, Excel and Powerpoint programmes.
Even before the charges, Microsoft tried to assuage the EU's concerns by untying Teams in Europe before expanding the policy to around the world in April.
The EU also had worries that Microsoft may have limited interoperability between Teams' competitors and its own offerings, although the company in September 2023 introduced "improvements" to make it easier for rivals.
But the commission said Microsoft's changes did not go far enough.
"The commission preliminarily finds that these changes are insufficient to address its concerns and that more changes to Microsoft's conduct are necessary to restore competition," it said in a statement.
The EU's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said "Microsoft now has the opportunity to reply to our concerns".
The company will be able to offer commitments to avoid a large fine and president Brad Smith has indicated Microsoft would be willing to take further steps.
"Having unbundled Teams and taken initial interoperability steps, we appreciate the additional clarity provided today and will work to find solutions to address the commission's remaining concerns," Smith said in a statement.
Slack had lodged its complaint as its market share diminished, and it has since been bought by the company Salesforce.
There is no deadline for the formal inquiry to wrap up.
Should the outcome of the probe go against Microsoft, it could face a heavy fine or other ordered remedies.
Microsoft has come under greater European scrutiny in recent months.
EU regulators are looking into Microsoft's partnership with ChatGPT developer OpenAI to determine whether it is a disguised merger.
The commission also received a separate complaint in late 2022 from Amazon-backed cloud trade group CISPE against Microsoft over its cloud licensing practices.
The two sides are currently seeking to resolve the issue through talks.
P.Martin--AMWN