The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has kicked off its antitrust investigation into Microsoft.

As reported by Bloomberg, the FTC has sent a "detailed request" for information and documentation covering everything from Microsoft's cloud computing business, software licensing practices, cybersecurity offerings, and artificial intelligence (AI) products.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said the request document was hundreds of pages long, and was sent to the company following a sign-off from chair Lina Khan.

FTC antitrust lawyers will reportedly meet with Microsoft competitors next week to discuss the company's business practices.

Rumors that the FTC was preparing to launch an investigation first emerged earlier this month.

Khan is set to leave her role after Donald Trump enters the White House next year.

The antitrust investigation will, among other elements, examine how Microsoft bundles its office productivity and security software with its cloud offerings. According to the Bloomberg report, this, along with Microsoft's significant government contracts, are examples of issues with the company's power in the market.

The company is facing similar investigations in the UK by the Competitions and Markets Authority. Results from that investigation are expected imminently.

During the summer of 2024, Microsoft resolved another antitrust complaint with the European cloud providers association CISPE relating to the licensing of its cloud products, agreeing to a €20 million ($21.7m) deal.

In addition to paying the almost $22 million, Microsoft said it would develop a product - Azure Stack HCI for European cloud providers (Hosters) - that enables CISPE's members to run Microsoft software on their platforms at equivalent prices to Microsoft's. Earlier this month, CISPE launched the European Cloud Competition Observatory (ECCO) to monitor Microsoft's compliance.