Italy’s competition watchdog announced Friday that it has opened a formal probe into Microsoft, targeting what it describes as potentially unfair business practices surrounding a price increase for the company’s Microsoft 365 subscription service.
According to the regulator, Microsoft failed to properly notify customers that its Microsoft 365 platform had been bundled with artificial intelligence features, specifically tools known as Copilot and Designer.
The authority said that rather than giving consumers a clear choice, Microsoft automatically shifted users to higher-priced subscription tiers. Customers who did not want the upgrade were required to actively opt out — and the watchdog said they were not given enough information to make an informed decision about whether to renew their subscriptions.
The regulator went further, stating that Microsoft’s approach could be classified as aggressive, arguing that it unfairly restricted consumers’ ability to freely choose their own plan.
Requests for comment directed to Microsoft were not returned before the time of publication.
