\n<\/p>\n
Microsoft is asking the inspector general at the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether agency management improperly leaked news of its antitrust investigation into the company, and make their findings public.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Bloomberg<\/em> first reported<\/a> that the probe was underway last week, which The Verge<\/em> later confirmed<\/a>. The investigation covers Microsoft\u2019s cloud and software licensing businesses, AI, and cybersecurity offerings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now, Microsoft\u2019s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel Rima Alaily is accusing FTC management of leaking details of the probe, in violation of the agency\u2019s own ethics guidelines<\/a>. The agency instructs new employees that \u201cthe existence of an FTC investigation is nonpublic information,\u201d though it may be disclosed after the Office of Public Affairs determines the target of a probe already made it public in a press release or government filing. Still, the guidelines add that the Commission has authority to make \u201cappropriate disclosures\u201d when \u201cit determines that doing so would be in the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Alaily writes that the information and sourcing in the Bloomberg<\/em> story \u201cstrongly suggests\u201d the details came from \u201cwithin the FTC.\u201d She says that the story \u201cappears to be consistent with an unfortunate trend over the last two years of the FTC strategically leaking nonpublic information,\u201d citing a September report<\/a> from the FTC IG that found a \u201csteadily increasing\u201d volume of \u201cunauthorized disclosures\u201d of nonpublic information to the press. The FTC declined to comment on the Microsoft letter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Microsoft claims it learned about the FTC\u2019s information demand \u201clike the rest of the world, through the Bloomberg story.\u201d Even when it inquired with FTC staff about the validity of the story, Alaily says, they wouldn\u2019t confirm the information demand existed, and she adds that Microsoft still hasn\u2019t seen the information demand reported by the press.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The letter is the latest example of a more aggressive approach Microsoft has taken in recent months when it comes to antitrust scrutiny of its business. In October, Alaily accused Google in a blog post<\/a> of launching an astroturf group<\/a> \u201cto discredit Microsoft with competition authorities, and policymakers and mislead the public.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Microsoft has mostly flown under the radar in past years as a target of antitrust lawsuits while its Big Tech peers were hit with complaints from US regulators. But it\u2019s increasingly faced scrutiny in both the US and in Europe amid major cybersecurity issues, its acquisition of game studio Activision Blizzard, and its partnership with OpenAI. Still, the fate of any existing investigation will ultimately depend on how officials in the incoming Trump administration view the matter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n