Working constructively with the UK CMA to support customer choice and cloud competition

Today we are sharing news about important changes we are making in our cloud services offerings in the United Kingdom. These changes address issues the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has raised and  reviewed as part of its Cloud Market Investigation Report, announced in July 2025.

In conjunction with the CMA’s extensive review, today’s changes will apply to UK customers using Microsoft Azure. The changes address the CMA’s commitment to ensuring that UK customers can continue to move, deploy, and operate their workloads in the clouds of their choice with confidence, flexibility, and ever-reduced friction. The changes are focused on data egress, switching, and interoperability, and are described in a more detailed fact sheet accompanying this statement. We will implement all these changes promptly. We will also proactively share information about these changes with other regulators around the world.

We recognize that the CMA will continue to review and assess additional issues relating to our products and services, including in the business software market. We are committed to working quickly and constructively to address these issues, including by providing all the information the CMA needs to move forward with its reviews.

The cloud and AI markets continue to change at an unprecedented pace. The cloud market itself remains intensely competitive, with large investments by Amazon, Google, Oracle, and new neo-cloud entrants and, ironically, with Google, a complainant in this review, growing faster in the last quarter of 2025 than Amazon or Microsoft.

Especially in times of such dynamic change, a thorough regulatory review requires rapid access to real-world market data and customer input. This is the only way regulators can act in a targeted and agile manner that brings faster changes to the market while fostering continued innovation and investment. This type of work always requires dialogue on both sides. We appreciate the opportunity we have had for direct and constructive conversations with the CMA and its staff and look forward to an ongoing dialogue in relation to relevant cloud issues in the future.

Microsoft has long been committed to addressing the competition and antitrust issues raised by regulators and enforcement agencies through constructive engagement, transparency, and a willingness to address concerns promptly and in practical ways. We believe this has served our shareholders and customers well, avoiding protracted litigation, legal defeats, and large fines.

Tags: Online Safety