European Commission to designate AWS and Azure DMA gatekeepers

The European Commission has notified Amazon and Microsoft of its preliminary view that their cloud computing services, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, should be designated as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Although neither service meets the DMA's quantitative thresholds for designation, the Commission found that AWS and Azure, the two largest cloud computing services in the EU, serve as important gateways between businesses and consumers.

Both companies are already designated as gatekeepers for other services. The Commission noted that AWS and Azure have achieved significant turnover, outpaced competitors in investment and operational capacity, and maintained leading market positions for many years. Furthermore, they benefit from large ecosystems, vast user bases, lock-in effects, and high switching costs. Their portfolios of artificial intelligence tools and partnerships have also become decisive factors in cloud procurement, allowing them to retain a large share of the growing AI-driven demand within their ecosystems.

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