### Cloud Provider Allegedly Contacted by Google Exposed Dubious Group to Microsoft
In a significant escalation of the ongoing competition between two of the globe’s foremost tech titans, Microsoft has accused Google of executing “underhanded tactics” aimed at sabotaging its cloud services. These allegations came to light in a blog entry by Microsoft attorney Rima Alaily, who asserted that Google has been secretly financing organizations to tarnish Microsoft’s reputation and mislead both regulators and the public.
The latest twist in this narrative involves a cloud provider that was reportedly solicited by Google to become part of a newly formed group known as the **Open Cloud Coalition**. Alaily claims this coalition, which is anticipated to be launched soon, is ostensibly headed by smaller European cloud service providers. Nonetheless, Microsoft contends that these companies serve merely as the visible front of the coalition, while Google remains the actual architect behind it, providing financial rewards or discounts to enlist members.
### The Open Cloud Coalition: A Disguise for Google?
The **Open Cloud Coalition** represents just one instance of what Microsoft characterizes as a widespread pattern of “underhanded campaigns” financed by Google. According to Alaily, the coalition is crafted to seem like a grassroots initiative championing a “fairer, more robust cloud market.” However, Microsoft asserts that Google is employing the coalition to target its cloud services in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK).
Microsoft’s blog suggests that Google is incentivizing smaller cloud providers to participate in the coalition, making them its public representatives, thereby hiding Google’s true involvement. Alaily argues that this is part of a more extensive strategy by Google to sway regulatory authorities and detract attention from its own antitrust challenges.
### Fabricated Support Allegations
The term **astroturfing** denotes the act of creating a false impression of grassroots backing for a cause, while the movement is actually orchestrated by a larger organization. Microsoft claims that the Open Cloud Coalition exemplifies astroturfing, with Google clandestinely maneuvering behind the scenes.
Beyond the Open Cloud Coalition, Alaily pointed to another entity, the **Coalition for Fair Software Licensing (CFSL)**, as part of Google’s larger strategy. The CFSL has criticized Microsoft’s cloud computing operations in the US, UK, and EU. Microsoft states that the CFSL is led by **Ryan Triplette**, a former Google lobbyist, although the organization does not publicly reveal its connections to the tech giant.
### Google’s Retort
Google has rejected the accusations, asserting that it has openly supported the CFSL for over two years. A Google representative dismissed Microsoft’s assertions, contending that it’s common for individuals in law, policy, or lobbying to have affiliations with various tech firms, including Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.
Google also defended its criticisms regarding Microsoft’s cloud licensing approaches, alleging that Microsoft employs anti-competitive strategies to bind customers and suppress competition. In a blog entry, Google claimed that Microsoft’s licensing conditions create hurdles for clients wishing to migrate their workloads to rival cloud platforms, enforcing hefty price surcharges for those who seek to do so.
### The Wider Context: Antitrust Conflicts
The dispute between Google and Microsoft arises at a moment when both firms are undergoing rigorous regulatory examination. Google, in particular, is under scrutiny from at least 24 antitrust probes globally, as noted in Microsoft’s blog post. Alaily proposed that Google’s assaults on Microsoft are efforts to divert regulators’ attention from its own legal predicaments.
“At a juncture where Google should concentrate on rectifying valid inquiries concerning its operations, it is instead diverting its considerable resources towards undermining competitors,” Alaily remarked. She contended that Google is utilizing its cloud service, **Google Cloud Platform (GCP)**, as a vehicle to target Microsoft’s **Azure** cloud services instead of competing fairly based on the merits of its offerings.
### Microsoft Alerted by Would-Be Recruit
The crucial moment in this escalating confrontation seems to have transpired when a cloud provider, reportedly approached by Google to affiliate with the Open Cloud Coalition, cautioned Microsoft about Google’s motives. According to Alaily, the cloud provider informed Microsoft that the coalition would be “guided and predominantly funded by Google with the intention of undermining Microsoft’s cloud computing endeavors” in the EU and UK.
Microsoft maintains that this disclosure fits into a broader behavioral pattern by Google, which has been accused of leveraging its financial capabilities to sway regulators and malign competitors. Alaily also highlighted that Google previously attempted to “weaponize” the **Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE)**, an organization that lodged an antitrust complaint against Microsoft in the EU.
### The $500 Million Proposition
In a particularly remarkable claim, Alaily asserted that Google had proposed a mix of cash and credits amounting to $500 million to CISPE to obstruct a settlement between Microsoft and European authorities. However, CISPE is said to have turned down Google’s proposal, leading Google to establish its own consortium of cloud providers—the Open
