The European Commission (EC) approved Google’s acquisition of cloud security startup Wiz, following an anticompetition market investigation launched in January.

In its latest update, the EC concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the fast-growing cloud security industry, where both Google and Wiz are active within the European Economic Area.

The EC gathered feedback from customers and rival suppliers of cloud security and cloud infrastructure services in order to investigate the impact of all material aspects of the transaction.

As part of its market investigation, the commission concluded that there are “several credible competitors that customers could switch to if Google were to bundle Wiz's multicloud security platform with its existing products, or in case Wiz's platform no longer worked with clouds other than Google's.”

Teresa Ribera, EVP for clean, just, and competitive transition at the EC, said: “Google stands behind Amazon and Microsoft in terms of market shares in cloud infrastructure, and our assessment confirmed that customers will continue to have credible alternatives and the ability to switch providers. The transaction therefore, does not raise competition concerns in cloud services or cloud security in the European Economic Area.”

The investigation also probed whether Google, by acquiring Wiz, would obtain access to commercially sensitive data on competing cloud service providers that also integrate with Wiz's solutions. The commission found no issue with this element as the data that Google would obtain as a result of the acquisition is not commercially sensitive.

According to the two companies, the Wiz transaction will help Google accelerate two large and growing trends in the AI era – improved cloud security and the ability to use multiple clouds.

CISPE raised antitrust concerns

The Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) trade group previously raised alarms around the proposed acquisition, drawing comparisons with Broadcom's VMware acquisition by accusing the European Union (EU) of once more undermining Europe's own cloud vendors.

In a blog from last month titled "Surely Not Again!", CISPE stated that "through its control of Wiz’s widely licensed software, Google will have the ability and the incentive to use unfair software licensing terms to lock-in customers to its own extensive and growing cloud ecosystem to the detriment of European cloud infrastructure service providers."

CISPE warned that the issue was made worse by customers increasing their reliance on AI-based solutions, which depend on cybersecurity and cloud frameworks – something where "Google’s full-stack dominance is especially pronounced," and will likely become more so with the acquisition.

Fresh antitrust complaint over Google’s AI features

In addition to the Wiz announcement, news was made public this week of the European Publishers Council (EPC) filing a formal antitrust complaint with the EC alleging that Google and its parent company Alphabet “are abusing their dominant position” in general search services, through the deployment of AI Overviews and AI Mode in Google Search.

Information part of the complaint outlined concerns that “Google is using publishers’ journalistic content without authorization, without effective opt-out mechanisms, and without fair remuneration, while at the same time displacing traffic, audiences, and revenues that are essential to the sustainability of professional journalism.”

Christian Van Thillo, chairman of the European Publishers Council, explained the complaint was “about stopping a dominant gatekeeper from using its market power to take publishers’ content without consent, without fair compensation, and without giving publishers any realistic way to protect their journalism. AI Overviews and AI Mode fundamentally undermine the economic compact that has sustained the open web.”

“If these practices continue, the damage will be structural and irreversible," Van Thillo continued. "No amount of money can restore lost audiences, weakened brand relationships, or eroded reader trust once publishers are dis-intermediated. Effective competition, media pluralism, and democratic discourse, all objectives rightly at the heart of the European Democracy Shield, depend on timely and decisive enforcement."