Britain’s antitrust regulator has launched an investigation into Microsoft over allegations that it misled personal and family customers when marketing Microsoft 365 subscription plans, potentially causing them to overpay. <\/p>\n
The Competition and Markets Authority said on Wednesday \u200bthe probe would examine Microsoft’s addition of \u200bits AI assistant Copilot to Microsoft 365 subscriptions. \u2060Personal and family customers were initially offered Copilot \u200bat no extra cost, but some later faced higher-priced \u200bsubscriptions when renewing, News.Az<\/a> reports, citing Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The investigation will examine whether customers were given key information about the plans and the difference in cost \u200bto understand the options available to them before \u200bmaking a decision,” the CMA said in a statement.<\/p>\n The CMA said \u200cwhile \u2060it was supportive of AI adoption across the country, customers always needed clear and timely information.<\/p>\n “We are reviewing the CMA’s claims in detail,” a Microsoft spokesperson \u200bsaid, adding \u200bthe company \u2060remained committed to “working constructively” with the regulator.<\/p>\n Microsoft faces numerous competition investigations globally, targeting \u200bits business software, cloud computing and AI \u200bpartnerships, \u2060and the UK’s CMA\u00a0launched a probe\u00a0into its dominance in business software in May.<\/p>\n Authorities in Australia and Italy \u2060are \u200balso investigating Microsoft over the information \u200bprovided to customers when plans renewed, the CMA noted.<\/p>\n