Google's €470M Bid Aimed to Thwart Microsoft's Antitrust Deal

Google has offered €470 million ($512 million) to European cloud firms in an attempt to disrupt an antitrust settlement with Microsoft Corp. The group, Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), had initially filed a complaint with the European Union's antitrust division, alleging that Microsoft's software licensing practices made it difficult for customers to switch cloud providers. However, CISPE dropped the complaint after reaching an agreement with Microsoft for fairer access to its technologies.

In a bid to persuade CISPE to maintain their EU complaint, Google proposed a package that included €455 million worth of software licenses for Google’s cloud technology over five years and €14 million in cash. Additionally, the offer was supplemented by €6 million in financial contributions from Amazon Web Services (AWS). Despite this counteroffer, CISPE members opted for the enhanced features offered by Microsoft Azure, resulting in the continuation of their settlement with Microsoft.