Exclusive-Google steps up Microsoft criticism, warns of rival’s monopoly in cloud

BRUSSELS : Alphabet’s Google Cloud on Monday ramped up its criticism of Microsoft’s cloud computing practices, announcing its rival is inquiring for a monopoly that could perchance misfortune the advance of emerging applied sciences neutral like generative artificial intelligence.

Microsoft and Amazon comprise lately attracted scrutiny in Britain, the European Union and the US over their market vitality in cloud computing. Google trails a far away third within the relief of the two leaders.

Microsoft’s collaboration with ChatGPT creator OpenAI has moreover ratcheted up the troubles.

“We danger about Microsoft attempting to flex their decade-long practices where they’d plenty of monopoly on the on-premise gadget sooner than and now they’re searching for to push that into cloud now,” Google Cloud Vice President Amit Zavery talked about in an interview.

“So they’re creating this entire walled backyard, which is fully controlled and owned by Microsoft, and customers who are searching for to total any of these items, or no longer it’s indispensable to circulate to Microsoft supreme,” he talked about.

“If Microsoft cloud does no longer live initiate, we can comprise disorders and long-length of time complications, even in next era applied sciences treasure AI as effectively, due to Microsoft is forcing customers to circulate to Azure in many ways,” Zavery talked about, relating to Microsoft’s cloud computing platform.

He urged antitrust regulators to act.

“I comprise regulators must offer some roughly steering as well to perchance guidelines which prevent the model Microsoft is constructing the Azure cloud industrial, no longer enable your on-premise monopoly to bring it into the cloud monopoly,” Zavery talked about.

Microsoft brushed off that argument.

“Because the most contemporary just knowledge presentations, competitors between cloud hyperscalers remains wholesome,” talked about a Microsoft spokesperson. “In 2023, Microsoft and Google made runt gains on AWS, which continues to remain the realm market chief by a considerable margin.”

Microsoft President Brad Smith on Monday took a veiled swipe at Google.

“Nowadays, supreme one firm is vertically built-in in a manner that entails each AI layer from chips to a thriving cell app retailer,” he told the Cell World Congress in Barcelona.

Zavery moreover criticised Microsoft’s agreements with person cloud vendors, announcing these ignore the broader disorders. Switch community CISPE closing month talked about it became once in talks with Microsoft to solve its EU antitrust criticism about its cloud computing licensing practices.

“Microsoft has been very orderly, deciding on person vendors who complain and end one-aspect deals but they compose no longer solve the broader field. To permit them to resolve the winners and losers in many case as effectively, so they roughly make a selection who they’re searching for to compete with,” Zavery talked about.

Microsoft refuted the criticism.

“We have listened to and work constructively and straight with just cloud providers to vary our licensing terms, addressing their concerns and offering more opportunity for them. Worldwide, bigger than 100 cloud providers comprise already taken profit of these adjustments,” a Microsoft spokesperson talked about.