Microsoft Claps Back At FTC, Claims It Leaked News Of Antitrust Probe
Microsoft has clapped back against the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) following last week’s report that the regulator was investigating the tech giant, claiming the FTC leaked the news.
Initially reported by Bloomberg before being confirmed by multiple other publications, the FTC is probing Microsoft’s cloud and software licensing operations, cybersecurity services, and AI offerings.
Microsoft has requested that the Federal Trade Commission’s Inspector General look into whether agency management improperly leaked information about its antitrust investigation into the tech business. The tech giant is also urging the investigation’s findings to be made public.
Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Rima Alaily, accused FTC management of leaking details about the agency’s antitrust investigation into the company on LinkedIn. She published an open letter on the networking website alleging that the regulatory body had violated its own ethics guidelines and had yet to distribute a copy of the mooted information demand document to Microsoft.
Alaily wrote:
Today, I asked, on behalf of Microsoft, the FTC Inspector General to investigate whether FTC management improperly leaked confidential information about a potential antitrust investigation last week in violation of the agency’s ethics rules and rules of practice. Ironically, almost a week after telling the press about an information demand supposedly issued to Microsoft, we still cannot obtain a copy of this document from the FTC.”
Alaila added that Microsoft “learned of this information demand, like the rest of the world, through the Bloomberg story” and not through the FTC. Alaila also claimed that the FTC, when contacted, wouldn’t confirm if the information letter even existed.
AWS Boosts Amazon Connect Contact Center Productivity With GenAI Upgrades
AWS has announced a swathe of new Gen AI upgrades to Amazon’s Connect Contact Center, intending to boost worker productivity and enhance the customer experience.
Among the new features unveiled at this week’s AWS re:Invent 2024 event are an AI-powered segmentation tool that identifies customers with corresponding interests, a capability that automates customer service task integration between Amazon Connect and Amazon Lex, and AI-powered tools for valuing contact centre performance.
