The European Commission has issued a preliminary position that Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure should be classified as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act. The label would impose interoperability, data‑access and competition duties, with fines up to 10 percent of worldwide turnover for breaches. Regulators note AWS as the EU’s largest and Azure as the second‑largest cloud provider, calling them a gateway between businesses and customers.

Both firms rejected the draft. Microsoft said it continues constructive dialogue and warned that ignoring Google Cloud’s growth could distort the market. AWS argued the Commission ignores the breadth of European cloud services and that competition already drives lower prices and flexibility. The Open Cloud Coalition welcomed the finding, saying swift remedies are needed to protect choice and growth.

EU officials give Amazon and Microsoft six months to respond and, if the gatekeeper status is confirmed, to comply with DMA requirements. Compliance would force greater data portability, open APIs and limits on bundling, reshaping how European enterprises build and run AI workloads. The Commission’s move signals a tighter regulatory clamp on the continent’s cloud backbone.