Microsoft’s offices in Japan were recently raided by the country’s antitrust regulator. These raids came as part of an investigation into suspected unfair trade practices linked to the software giant’s cloud business. A Nikkei Asia report cited sources familiar with the matter to claim that the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) is examining whether Microsoft Japan improperly restricted customers of its Azure platform from using competing cloud services.
The regulator is probing a potential violation of the Antimonopoly Act and is also expected to seek clarification from Microsoft’s parent company in the United States. The report cited sources to claim that Microsoft Japan is suspected of setting conditions that either made it difficult to use its software on non-Azure cloud platforms or resulted in higher fees for customers choosing alternative services.
Azure competes with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud in the global cloud market, and the raid is part of the JFTC’s efforts to ensure fair competition in the growing technology sector. According to the report, Microsoft may have relied on its market position in products such as Windows Server and Microsoft 365, with its Japan subsidiary suspected of steering customers toward Azure by limiting access to these widely used services on rival cloud platforms.
Apart from Japan, regulators in Britain, Europe, and the United States have also been examining Microsoft and other companies over their cloud computing practices. Last month, Brazil’s antitrust authority opened an administrative investigation into Microsoft’s local unit in connection with its cloud services.
EU investigating Microsoft’s and Amazon’s cloud market domination
In November 2025, the European Union opened an investigation into Amazon Web Services and Microsoft’s Azure to determine whether the two cloud platforms should be subject to rules aimed at limiting the market influence of major technology companies.
The European Commission said the companies and that it would assessunder the Digital Markets Act.
The regulator also said it would examine whether the rulebook designed to address anti-competitive conduct is
The EU’s scrutiny of cloud platforms followed several industry outages that disrupted global services and raised concerns about reliance on a limited number of providers.
A Microsoft spokesperson at that time said the company stands ready to contribute to the commission’s market inquiry. In contrast, a spokesperson for Amazon’s AWS unit said it is confident regulators will find that the cloud market provides choice and innovation.
This came after an outage affecting Amazon’s cloud services in October 2025, which lasted around 15 hours and disrupted operations at hundreds of companies, including Apple, McDonald’s and Epic Games. Microsoft’s Azure also faced issues in October that prevented passengers from checking in for Alaska Airlines flights and interrupted voting activities in the Scottish Parliament.
At that time, the European Commission said the investigation into AWS and Azure is expected to conclude within 12 months, with a final decision on the regulatory approach for the cloud sector under the Digital Markets Act likely within 18 months.
