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Microsoft avoids EU antitrust fine with Teams price split

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Microsoft sidestepped a potential multibillion-euro EU antitrust fine by agreeing to lower prices on Office products that exclude its Teams app, the European Commission announced Friday. The deal follows a long-running probe triggered by a 2020 complaint from Slack, later joined by German rival Alfaview, accusing Microsoft of unfairly bundling Teams with Office.

Under the agreement, Microsoft will widen the price difference by 50% between Office/Microsoft 365 packages sold with and without Teams, creating a gap of €1–€8 depending on the suite. This pricing model will stay in place for seven years, while additional commitments on interoperability and data portability—including the ability for customers to export Teams messaging data to competitors—will last 10 years.

EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the move would “open up competition in this crucial market,” ensuring companies can freely choose their collaboration tools. The decision arrives a week after Ribera fined Google €2.95 billion for adtech violations, a ruling that drew sharp criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Microsoft Vice President Nanna-Louise Linde said the company welcomed the constructive dialogue and would implement its obligations globally. Alfaview CEO Niko Fostiropoulos praised the settlement as a win for Europe’s “digital sovereignty,” while Salesforce president Sabastian Niles called it “a meaningful step forward” and urged strict enforcement.

Microsoft has previously racked up €2.2 billion in EU fines for bundling and other practices, but in recent years it has sought a more cooperative stance with regulators. Antitrust penalties can reach up to 10% of a firm’s global annual turnover, meaning the company could have faced a fine of over $20 billion without the deal.

Microsoft to Integrate Anthropic AI into Office Apps, Signaling Diversification Beyond OpenAI

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Microsoft (MSFT.O) will begin using Anthropic’s AI models for some Office 365 applications, according to The Information. The move reflects Microsoft’s strategy to diversify its AI portfolio, after relying heavily on OpenAI for new features across Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

Key Details

  • Blended Approach: Microsoft will integrate both Anthropic and OpenAI models into Office features.

  • Performance Advantage: Developers found Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4 performed better than OpenAI’s GPT models for tasks such as:

    • Automating financial functions in Excel.

    • Generating visually appealing PowerPoint presentations.

  • Cloud Partnership: Microsoft will pay Amazon Web Services (AWS) — an Anthropic shareholder — to access the models, despite AWS being a cloud rival.

Microsoft’s AI Strategy

  • Continues to invest in OpenAI (over $13 billion to date) while:

    • Building its own AI models.

    • Integrating DeepSeek’s AI into Azure cloud.

  • Microsoft insists its long-term partnership with OpenAI remains intact, especially for frontier model development.

Market Impact

  • Office AI pricing remains unchanged, despite new integrations.

  • OpenAI’s recent GPT-5 launch marked an upgrade, but Anthropic’s Claude appears stronger in certain practical business applications.

  • Microsoft is expected to formally announce the Anthropic integration in the coming weeks.

Why It Matters

  • Shows Microsoft’s pragmatic approach to AI adoption: using the best-performing tools for different functions rather than betting on a single provider.

  • Strengthens Anthropic’s position in enterprise AI, while signaling that competition in applied AI features is intensifying.