ANTITRUST WATCH
Copilot Price Hike DrawsAntitrust Probes
The fallout from the global Copilot price hike that took effect on July 1, 2026 is now drawing scrutiny from competition regulators in several countries at once.
A hike touching 15 million seats — why regulators got involved
Less than a month after the global price change, regulatory attention has converged fast
On July 1, 2026, Microsoft rolled out a global price change tied to bundling Copilot into Microsoft 365 personal, family, and business plans. Roughly 15 million paid seats are said to be affected, and many users who have already renewed have moved onto the higher-priced, Copilot-included plans whether they wanted to or not. That part of the story is already known. What's new is that the way the hike was rolled out has itself become the subject of multiple competition investigations. According to The Register, which reported on July 29, 2026, authorities in the UK, Italy, Australia, and Switzerland have moved on the issue in close succession — an unusual case of near-simultaneous, multi-jurisdiction scrutiny rather than one isolated regional action.
What regulators are objecting to isn't the size of the increase itself, but the design of the renewal flow. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on July 27, 2026 that it had opened a formal investigation into whether Microsoft moved personal and family customers onto more expensive plans at renewal, tied to the Copilot integration, without giving them enough information about the change. A similar pattern had already surfaced in Italy about a month earlier. Italy's competition authority, AGCM (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato), opened an investigation on June 26, 2026 into the price increase tied to Copilot and Designer being built into Microsoft 365, alleging that consumers were automatically shifted to a pricier plan unless they actively opted out, and were not given adequate information to make an informed renewal decision. The fact that the dispute centers on "how consent was obtained" rather than "how much prices went up" should worry any SaaS vendor racing to monetize AI features, not just Microsoft.
Investigations now span five jurisdictions
The scrutiny doesn't stop at the UK and Italy. Australia's ACCC has gone further, suing Microsoft over allegations that it obscured the cheaper legacy "Classic" plan behind the Copilot bundle, affecting an estimated 2.7 million users. Bloomberg also reported on the CMA's investigation, framing regulators' focus as shifting from "the fact of a price rise" to "the design that keeps customers from noticing it." Swiss competition authorities are also investigating the Microsoft 365 licensing fee increase, and in the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reportedly examining whether Microsoft's cloud and software architecture impedes migration to rival clouds, having sent civil investigative demands to multiple companies earlier in 2026. A second notable feature of this moment is that scrutiny of the price hike itself (UK, Italy, Australia, Switzerland) is running in parallel with scrutiny of the surrounding lock-in structure (US FTC).
UK / CMA
Opened a formal investigation on July 27, 2026, focused on inadequate disclosure at renewal.
Italy / AGCM
Opened a probe on June 26, 2026 into the Copilot/Designer-linked price hike, citing an unclear opt-out path.
Australia / ACCC
Sued Microsoft, alleging the cheaper "Classic" plan was obscured, affecting roughly 2.7 million users.
Switzerland
Competition authorities are investigating the Microsoft 365 licensing fee increase.
US / FTC
Reportedly sent civil investigative demands to several firms in early 2026 over cloud lock-in concerns.
For business and procurement leaders
Organizations with renewals across multiple markets have a reasonable option: hold off on signing new Copilot contracts at least until the UK CMA and Italy's AGCM produce initial findings. These investigations often lead to remediation orders or refunds, so committing now risks locking in terms that could shift within months.
For product and IT administrators
Audit your tenant's renewal settings now. Check whether the default path auto-upgrades to a Copilot-bundled plan, locate the opt-out control if one exists, and request to stay on a legacy plan where needed. The "hard-to-find Classic plan" issue the ACCC cites in Australia could just as easily be lurking in your own tenant admin console.
| Classic plan | Bundled plan (post-hike) |
|---|---|
| No Copilot features, legacy pricing | Copilot bundled, new pricing applies |
| Visibility at renewal is limited (per ACCC) | Default destination at renewal (per UK/Italy regulators) |
The near-term outlook, and three things to do now
These probes can drag on for years — but waiting it out isn't a full strategy
Consumer-protection-style investigations like the UK CMA's and Italy's AGCM's typically take around a year to reach remediation orders or refunds. Microsoft may adjust its renewal flow voluntarily before then, but there's no commitment to a pricing review as things stand. What businesses should do sits between "wait and see" and "do nothing": confirm the facts, and keep your options open.
- Hold off on signing new Copilot contracts until the UK CMA and Italy's AGCM release initial findings; stay on existing plans in the meantime.
- Audit existing tenant renewal settings to check whether they auto-upgrade to a Copilot-bundled plan at renewal.
- Build a contingency line into next year's budget for pricing or plan changes that may follow regulatory action.
That said, opening an investigation is not a finding of wrongdoing. Even in the UK CMA's and Italy's AGCM's cases, a final determination and any remedy typically takes over a year. Businesses don't need to stop using Copilot today, and overreacting risks losing out on genuine productivity gains — arguably a bigger cost. As Unite.AI's coverage points out, the dispute is squarely about how the price increase was communicated, not an argument for banning Copilot itself.