Microsoft Outage Sharpens Antitrust Scrutiny on Cloud Giants

An IT failure that caused millions of Microsoft Windows devices to crash, upending business across the globe, adds to the scrutiny that cloud providers are under as regulators start to more sharply examine consolidation in the industry.

The Federal Trade Commission is in the beginning stages of an inquiry of major cloud computing companies, including looking at their investments in the burgeoning artificial intelligence field. Authorities in Europe and South Africa are also looking into cloud services and the dominance of such companies as Microsoft Corp.

“A high-profile event, like a shutdown of a major cloud provider, could be used ...