The European Commission informed Amazon and Microsoft on Thursday that their cloud computing services should be designated as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act.
The Commission’s preliminary finding covers Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure — the largest and second-largest cloud computing services in the EU respectively. Both are considered important gateways between businesses and their customers in the EU.
The preliminary findings follow a seven-month investigation launched in November 2025. Amazon and Microsoft now have the opportunity to respond before any final decision is taken.
Why This Is Unusual
The Commission’s preliminary position applies despite AWS and Azure not meeting the DMA’s quantitative thresholds for designation. The DMA sets standard numeric benchmarks around user numbers and revenue to determine gatekeeper status. The Commission can still designate a company if it determines the service has a major market impact, even without meeting those thresholds.
EU officials said AWS and Microsoft Azure had revenue, operations and investments that appeared to have significantly outpaced competitors, alongside vast user bases. Officials also noted their AI tools and partnerships, and how that technology is fueling demand for cloud services, with AWS and Azure appearing to retain a large proportion of that demand within their own ecosystems.
What Gatekeeper Status Means
If confirmed, the designation would subject both cloud giants to a range of obligations designed to curb market dominance. These include requirements around interoperability, data portability and limits on practices that could favor their own services over those of competitors.
Both Amazon and Microsoft already hold gatekeeper status for other services. If the cloud designations are confirmed, they will have six months to ensure full compliance with the DMA’s obligations.
Companies that fail to comply with the DMA can be fined up to 10% of annual global revenue, or up to 20% for repeated infringements. The EU can also impose periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of average daily sales.
What The Companies Say
Amazon pushed back directly. “The EU already has comprehensive cloud regulation through the Data Act, and adding another heavy layer of overlapping regulation under the DMA undermines European competitiveness and access to cutting-edge information technology. We will continue to engage with the Commission to reach the right outcome for customers and Europe’s digital future,” Amazon said.
Microsoft did not issue an immediate public comment. Both companies can now review the Commission’s findings and formally respond before any final designation decision is made.
The move marks a significant expansion of the DMA, which has so far focused on consumer-facing digital platforms such as search engines, social media networks and app stores. Extending the rules to cloud infrastructure would bring one of the most critical layers of the digital economy under closer regulatory scrutiny.
