Microsoft's products such as Word, Excel, and artificial intelligence application Copilot are facing an antitrust investigation in the UK.

Microsoft's business software ecosystem will face an antitrust investigation in the UK starting in May this year to determine whether its licensing agreements for products such as Word, Excel, and AI application Copilot need stricter regulation. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Tuesday that it will launch this investigation to decide whether to grant Microsoft a so-called strategic market status designation - which would allow regulatory bodies to impose penalties and take measures to promote market competition. The decision to conduct this investigation came from widespread concerns about Microsoft's position in the business software sector, including office productivity software, operating systems, and database management systems. CMA stated, "The integration of advanced artificial intelligence, including smart assistants and emerging autonomous agent technology, into common office tools signifies a key turning point for the industry." At the same time, CMA said it will continue to work with Microsoft and Amazon Web Services to promote measures to improve the competitive environment of the cloud services market.