Microsoft accuses US regulator of leaking news of its antitrust investigation

American multinational technology conglomerate Microsoft has accused the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of leaking news of its antitrust investigation into the company.

Recall that Bloomberg and other media sites reported last week Wednesday that the investigation encompasses a wide spectrum of the US tech giant’s services, including cloud computing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.

The report states that the FTC is investigating if Microsoft’s public cloud, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity product lines are among the various areas of the business where antitrust legislation may have been broken.

According to The New York Times, the FTC is especially interested in how Microsoft combines its cloud products with its office and security capabilities.

READ ALSO: Microsoft hit with $1.25bn UK antitrust lawsuit in cloud fees damage

Microsoft corporate vice president and deputy general counsel Rima Alaily responded to the reports by accusing FTC management of violating the agency’s own ethics rules by disclosing probe data.

Alaily, in a statement, said that the information and sourcing in the Bloomberg story “strongly suggest” the details came from “within the FTC.” She says that the story “appears to be consistent with an unfortunate trend over the last two years of the FTC strategically leaking nonpublic information,” citing a September report from the FTC IG that found a “steadily increasing” volume of “unauthorized disclosures” of nonpublic information to the press.

According to Microsoft, “Like the rest of the world, we learned about the FTC’s information demand through the Bloomberg story.” Microsoft still hasn’t seen the information demand reported by the press, according to Alaily, who also claims that even when it asked FTC employees if the story was true, they wouldn’t confirm that there was an information demand.

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