Brussels has accused Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) of anti-competitive behavior by bundling its Teams app with its Office suite, marking the first such antitrust charges against the tech giant in over a decade.
This move comes just a day after the European Union turned its attention to Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), accusing it of stifling competition on its App Store.
On Tuesday, the European Commission issued a charge sheet to Microsoft, outlining concerns that the bundling of Teams with Office gives it an unfair advantage over video conferencing rivals like Slack and Zoom.
These charges are the most significant Brussels has filed against Microsoft, aside from merger control, since the high-profile cases concerning the bundling of Microsoft's software products that began over 20 years ago.
The latest case follows Microsoft’s contentious $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year and increased scrutiny over its partnerships with artificial intelligence startups, including OpenAI.
The European Commission's executive vice president in charge of competition policy, Margrethe Vestager, stated concerns that Microsoft may be giving Teams an undue advantage over competitors by integrating it with its productivity suites.
She emphasized that if confirmed, such conduct would be illegal under EU competition rules. Microsoft now has the chance to respond to these concerns.