Microsoft is facing fresh regulatory grief in Europe after Italy's competition watchdog opened an investigation into claims Redmond added AI features to Microsoft 365 and automatically moved subscribers to more expensive plans unless they opted out.

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) is investigating Microsoft Ireland Operations and Microsoft Italy over what it describes as a potentially unfair commercial practice surrounding recent Microsoft 365 subscription changes. 

The regulator's stated concern is not the inclusion of AI itself, but whether customers were given sufficiently clear information that Copilot and Designer had arrived – and that their subscription bills were going up as a result.

According to the AGCM, the changes were communicated in a fragmented way that failed to spell out exactly what subscribers were getting for the higher price. The watchdog says subscribers were automatically shifted onto a more expensive plan, leaving them to opt out if they didn't want to pay extra.

"In the Authority's view, this conduct may be contrary to consumer rules, since Microsoft appears to have failed to provide consumers with sufficient information to assess the changes made to the service offered and, as a consequence, make an informed decision as to whether or not to renew their subscription," AGCM said. "The way in which the information was communicated may also constitute an aggressive practice, as it appears to have unduly restricted consumers' freedom of choice."

In a statement to The Register, a Microsoft spokesperson said the company "is committed to complying with Italian consumer law and will cooperate with the Italian Competition Authority in its preliminary investigation."

Microsoft has spent the past year weaving Copilot into just about everything it sells, from Microsoft 365 to Windows, with pricing following close behind.

The Italian case lands just weeks after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority launched a strategic market status investigation into Microsoft's business software ecosystem. That inquiry is focused on competition issues, including bundling, licensing practices, interoperability, and default settings as AI becomes embedded across workplace software.

Italy's watchdog seems more interested in whether customers knew what they were signing up for in the first place than Microsoft's market power. ®