Google ramps up its Microsoft criticism — a cloud war could be on the horizon

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Google Cloud has taken a swing at Microsoft, claiming its rival company is taking steps to secure a monopoly on emerging technologies such as generative AI.

Microsoft controls a significant portion of the cloud computing market, and has recently begun a collaboration with OpenAI to enhance their development of all things AI.

This has resulted in increasing scrutiny from regulatory bodies in the US, UK and the European Union.

Microsoft is “creating a whole walled garden”

Google Cloud President Amit Zavery recently expressed his concern about Microsoft’s grip on the market, saying, “We worry about Microsoft wanting to flex their decade-long practices where they had a lot of monopoly on the on-premise software before and now they are trying to push that into cloud now.

“So they are creating this whole walled garden, which is completely controlled and owned by Microsoft, and customers who want to do any of this stuff, you have to go to Microsoft only.”

Zavery continued by claiming that Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform forced customers to exclusively use Microsoft products, and that regulators should step in before the cloud giant causes “long-term problems” in other industries.

The Google Cloud President accused Microsoft of flexing its market control by selectively choosing vendors in a manner that can either set them up for success or fall through, allowing Microsoft to choose its competition.

Microsoft’s President Brad Smith took a swing back at Google during the opening day of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, saying, “Today, only one company is vertically integrated in a manner that includes every AI layer from chips to a thriving mobile app store.”

Another Microsoft spokesperson also addressed the criticism stating, “We have listened to and work constructively and directly with independent cloud providers to change our licensing terms, addressing their concerns and providing more opportunity for them. Worldwide, more than 100 cloud providers have already taken advantage of these changes.”

Via Reuters

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Benedict has been writing about security issues for close to 5 years, at first covering geopolitics and international relations while at the University of Buckingham. During this time he studied BA Politics with Journalism, for which he received a second-class honours (upper division). Benedict then continued his studies at a postgraduate level and achieved a distinction in MA Security, Intelligence and Diplomacy. Benedict transitioned his security interests towards cybersecurity upon joining TechRadar Pro as a Staff Writer, focussing on state-sponsored threat actors, malware, social engineering, and national security. Benedict is also an expert on B2B security products, including firewalls, antivirus, endpoint security, and password management.