The AGCM alleges that consumers were given inadequate information about the integration of Copilot and Designer into their Microsoft subscriptions and were automatically transferred to costlier plans.
Italy’s competition authority, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), opened a formal investigation into the IT company on Friday over alleged unfair commercial practices linked to recent price increases for the Microsoft 365 subscription service.
The regulator said the company did not adequately inform consumers that its Microsoft 365 service had been integrated with the artificial intelligence tools Copilot and Designer. Furthermore, consumers were automatically moved to more expensive subscription plans unless they actively opted out, while receiving insufficient information to decide whether to renew their contracts.
The probe targets two Microsoft entities: Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd and Microsoft S.r.l., the company’s Italian subsidiary.
AGCM Allegations
The AGCM‘s stated concern is not the inclusion of AI itself, but whether customers were given sufficiently clear information that Copilot and Designer had been added to their service, and that their subscription costs were rising as a result. According to the regulator, the changes were communicated in a fragmented way that failed to spell out exactly what subscribers were receiving for the higher price.
In its statement, the authority was direct about the potential severity of the conduct. “Microsoft appears to have failed to provide consumers with sufficient information to assess the changes made to the service offered and, as a consequence, make an informed decision as to whether or not to renew their subscription. The way in which the information was communicated may also constitute an aggressive practice, as it appears to have unduly restricted consumers’ freedom of choice.”
A Microsoft spokesperson said the company “is committed to complying with Italian consumer law and will cooperate with the Italian Competition Authority in its preliminary investigation.”
