EU Preliminarily Designates AWS and Azure as DMA Gatekeepers

On June 25, 2026, the European Commission issued preliminary findings designating Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act, despite both falling short of the law’s standard quantitative thresholds. The move follows a probe opened in November 2025 and reflects regulators’ view that the two firms hold entrenched, dominant positions as the EU’s largest and second-largest cloud providers amid rising AI-driven demand. Both companies have pushed back, warning that additional DMA obligations could raise compliance costs, stifle innovation, and reduce European competitiveness, while Microsoft highlighted the exclusion of Google Cloud as potentially distortive.