Italy probes AI-fueled price hikes in Microsoft 365
Regulator says subscribers may have been defaulted onto more expensive plans with Copilot features attached
Microsoft is facing fresh regulatory grief in Europe after Italy's competition watchdog opened an investigation into claims Redmond added AI features to Microsoft 365 and automatically moved subscribers to more expensive plans unless they opted out.
The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) is investigating Microsoft Ireland Operations and Microsoft Italy over what it describes as a potentially unfair commercial practice surrounding recent Microsoft 365 subscription changes.
The regulator's stated concern is not the inclusion of AI itself, but whether customers were given sufficiently clear information that Copilot and Designer had arrived – and that their subscription bills were going up as a result.
According to the AGCM, the changes were communicated in a fragmented way that failed to spell out exactly what subscribers were getting for the higher price. The watchdog says subscribers were automatically shifted...
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