Overview
- The Competition and Markets Authority, which opened an early-stage probe on Wednesday, will examine whether Microsoft gave clear information to UK customers before they were moved onto new AI-enabled Microsoft 365 plans.
- The regulator says Microsoft began changing plans in January 2025 and temporarily gave existing subscribers access to Copilot and other AI features at no extra cost until their current subscriptions ended.
- When subscriptions renewed, many customers were automatically placed on a higher-priced AI plan unless they actively switched or cancelled, and Microsoft stopped offering the older non-AI Personal and Family plans to new buyers.
- Existing users were offered a limited-time 'Classic' option to keep the older feature set at the same price while the standard AI-powered Personal and Family annual plan runs about £25 more per year than the Classic version.
- The CMA stressed it has not found wrongdoing and is still investigating, and its findings could influence how regulators treat bundled paid AI features and companies’ renewal communications going forward.