The European Commission has opened three investigations into the cloud services of Amazon and Microsoft to assess their market power and the effectiveness of current regulations.

The European Commission has initiated three market investigations regarding the cloud services offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, in accordance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). These investigations aim to determine whether AWS and Azure should be designated as 'gatekeepers' in the cloud sector and whether the current rules are sufficient to maintain competition. AWS is the global leader in cloud service provision, followed by Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. The investigations come against the backdrop of tensions between the EU and the Trump administration, which supported American companies against European regulations. Teresa Ribera, the EU's antitrust chief, stated that the need to update the DMA rules will be analyzed to adapt to the rapid developments in the market. Microsoft has announced that it will cooperate with the investigation, while AWS has warned that being designated as 'gatekeepers' could affect innovation and costs for European companies. If the investigations confirm the 'gatekeeper' status, the services of both companies will be subject to strict obligations, including a ban on favoring their own services. The Commission expects to complete the investigations within 12 months.