Microsoft Faces AI Pricing Lawsuit in Australia, Investor Concerns Rise
Microsoft (MSFT) is under legal fire in Australia as regulators allege deceptive pricing practices tied to its AI features. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) claims the tech giant misled 2.7 million users of Microsoft 365 personal and family plans by obscuring options to avoid a 45% price hike when Copilot AI was bundled into subscriptions.
Investors now weigh whether this marks an isolated regulatory skirmish or the first crack in Microsoft's aggressive AI monetization strategy. The ACCC asserts customers weren't clearly informed they could retain lower pricing by opting out of Copilot—a critical omission that only surfaced during subscription cancellation processes.