On June 26, 2026, Italy’s Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, AGCM) announced a formal investigation into Microsoft Ireland Operations and Microsoft Corporation, targeting what it describes as unfair commercial practices connected to Microsoft 365 subscription pricing. The probe zeroes in on how the tech giant bundles its Copilot generative AI assistant into its productivity suite—a strategy, the authority suspects, that restricts consumer choice and imposes price increases without clear opt-out routes.
The AGCM’s initial statement, though brief, indicates that the investigation will scrutinize whether Microsoft’s practice of integrating Copilot into existing Microsoft 365 plans and simultaneously raising subscription fees violates Italian consumer protection laws. While the authority did not elaborate on specific plan tiers or price changes, the move comes amid escalating consumer complaints across Europe that Microsoft has been stealthily adding AI capabilities to renewal invoices, leaving users with little recourse other than canceling their subscriptions.
The core of the issue appears to be the bundling—or “tying”—of Copilot AI features that many users neither requested nor need. Under Italian law, as enforced by the AGCM, businesses are prohibited from tying additional products or services to a main purchase in a way that unduly limits the consumer’s freedom of choice. The regulator will examine whether Microsoft presented the AI-enhanced subscription as the default or only option during renewal, effectively forcing an upsell.
Microsoft’s Copilot, built on OpenAI’s technology, first appeared as an optional add-on in enterprise plans in 2023, priced at $30 per user per month. A consumer version, Copilot Pro, launched in 2024 at $20 per month as a separate subscription that augmented the standard Microsoft 365 Personal and Family apps. However, over the last eighteen months, Microsoft has increasingly woven AI capabilities directly into its core productivity applications—Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint—branding the integration as “Copilot in Microsoft 365.” What began as a premium overlay has, in many residential and business accounts, become a de facto part of the subscription fabric, with renewal notices reflecting higher prices that account for Copilot’s inclusion.
Industry observers note that the tipping point likely came in early 2026 when Microsoft began auto-upgrading long-standing subscribers to plans that include Copilot, in some cases without an explicit, revocable consent mechanism. According to consumer advocacy groups in Italy, users reported seeing their annual Microsoft 365 Family subscription jump from €99 to €149, a 50% increase attributed to the addition of AI capabilities. For users who rely on Microsoft 365 solely for essential work tasks—word processing, spreadsheets, email—the extra cost felt punitive.
“It’s like being charged for a sunroof on a car you never open,” said Marco Bellini, a Milan-based freelance journalist and Microsoft 365 subscriber, in a complaint filed with the AGCM. “I use Word and Excel; I don’t need AI to rewrite my emails or generate slide decks.” Bellini’s grievance, along with dozens of similar submissions, helped trigger the authority’s review.
The AGCM’s powers under the Consumer Code are broad. If it finds Microsoft guilty of an unfair commercial practice, it can impose fines of up to €10 million and order the company to offer a clear, unbundled option—perhaps a return to basic, Copilot-free plans at the old price point. In severe cases, the authority can mandate refunds for consumers who were charged without consent. The investigation is expected to take several months, with the AGCM likely requesting internal Microsoft documents detailing the pricing strategy and consumer opt-out rates.
Microsoft has yet to issue a formal response to the investigation. In previous statements to European regulators, the company has defended its AI integration as a value-added enhancement that justifies higher subscription costs. “Copilot is transformative technology,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a May 2026 earnings call. “It fundamentally changes how people work, and we believe our pricing reflects the immense productivity gains it delivers.” However, that stance may not satisfy a regulator that views consumer choice as paramount.
The Italian probe is not an isolated event. Across the European Union, several national competition authorities have been scrutinizing tech companies’ AI monetization strategies. The European Commission has signaled that it will closely examine whether big tech is leveraging its market power to force AI adoption on captive user bases. In this context, the AGCM’s action could serve as a test case, setting a precedent for how EU member states balance innovation with consumer protection in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
For Italian consumers, the investigation offers a potential reprieve. If the AGCM compels Microsoft to offer unbundled subscriptions, millions of users who prefer a traditional, non-AI-infused Microsoft 365 might see their bills drop. It could also force Microsoft to redesign its renewal interface, ensuring that existing subscribers are explicitly asked whether they want to upgrade to an AI-enabled plan, with the default option being the classic version.
On the flip side, Microsoft might argue that AI features are now integral to the software and that maintaining a separate, cheaper tier without Copilot is technologically complex. The company could point to the competitive pressure from Google Workspace, which has similarly embedded AI into its apps, often at no extra cost for basic features. That argument, however, might backfire in the Italian case, as the regulator seems focused less on the technology’s merit and more on the sales practice—specifically, the lack of transparency and the absence of a genuine opt-out.
Legal experts suggest that the AGCM will parse the fine print of Microsoft’s service agreements. If those agreements reserved the right to modify features and pricing without explicit notice, the company may have a contractual shield. Yet even a well-drafted clause can fall if the practice is deemed aggressive under the Consumer Code. “Italian courts have a low tolerance for terms that let a dominant company change the deal unilaterally in ways that harm consumers,” said Francesca Romano, a consumer law professor at the University of Bologna. “The question is whether Microsoft presented these changes as a fait accompli, leaving the subscriber with no meaningful choice but to accept or lose access to essential documents.”
The investigation also throws a spotlight on Microsoft’s dominance in the office productivity market. In Italy, Microsoft 365 has an estimated 80% market share among business users, according to industry data, giving the company significant leverage. The AGCM may consider whether that dominance, combined with high switching costs—users have years of legacy documents in proprietary formats—creates a lock-in effect that magnifies the impact of the controversial pricing.
Microsoft enthusiasts might argue that the Copilot features genuinely enhance productivity and that AI integration is the future of all software. But the crux of the investigation is not whether Copilot is useful; it’s whether consumers are being forced to pay for it without a meaningful choice. For small businesses and professionals in Italy, who often operate on tight budgets, the extra cost can be a burden, and the investigation lands at a time of broader economic uncertainty.
Looking ahead, the AGCM’s probe could expand. If evidence emerges that similar practices are employed across the EU, the European Commission might coordinate a centralized investigation, as it did with past tech antitrust cases. Microsoft may preempt this by voluntarily offering a “Copilot-lite” tier or clearer opt-out options, a tactic it has used before when facing regulatory heat. For now, the company faces a potentially costly and reputation-harming process in one of its key European markets.
As the investigation unfolds, windowsnews.ai will continue to report on developments. For Windows users, the case is a reminder to scrutinize subscription renewals carefully and to demand transparency from the tech platforms they rely on. The days of automatic, uncritically accepted price hikes may be numbered—at least in Italy.