Microsoft is ready to take "additional steps" to address the European Commission's concerns about its bundling of Teams and Office.
Microsoft's President, Brad Smith, spoke to a group of journalists in Brussels this week about the company's intention to assuage EU antitrust regulators who had been investigating whether Microsoft was "abusing its market position" by bundling Teams with Office since last year.
Last month, sources told The Financial Times that the European Commission would announce new antitrust charges against Microsoft and potentially issue a formal statement of objections as soon as this summer. Smith expressed no surprise at the possibility of receiving such a document, noting that Microsoft has proactively taken steps to mitigate regulatory concerns.
Smith said:
We now have taken the kinds of steps that I think people were looking for us to take to provide Teams separately from other parts of our Office or M365 suite. But I expect that we'll need to take some additional steps."
During his visit to Brussels, Smith discussed artificial intelligence with senior EU officials, including Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, and participated in events focused on AI. A spokesperson for the Commission confirmed that Smith and Vestager's meeting covered the EU's ongoing competition investigations into Microsoft and recent advancements in AI technology.
