This would be the first time the bloc has designated cloud providers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA)
The European Commission on Thursday preliminarily designated US cloud giants Amazon and Microsoft for regulation under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
In a press statement, the Commission said that Amazon’s web services (AWS), the largest EU cloud provider, and Microsoft’s Azure, the second-largest, acted as “crucial” gateways between businesses and consumers, despite not meeting the quantitative thresholds set by the DMA.
In justifying the designation, the Commission said that Microsoft and Amazon’s cloud services have achieved a significant turnover. It also found that their operational capacity and investments “significantly outpaced those of competitors.” Moreover, the services appeared to benefit from “lock-in effects” and “high switching costs” due to their size.
The bloc also said that both services’ AI tools and partnerships are decisive factors in the cloud procurement market because AI is increasing demand for cloud-related services, benefiting both companies.
