ICLE argues AWS and Azure fail EU gatekeeper criteria tests

The outcome of this regulatory challenge will determine if 'gatekeeper' remains a specific legal definition or simply a proxy for company size. For the streaming industry, a gatekeeper designation would mandate strict interoperability and curb data egress fees, potentially lowering the cost of multi-cloud architectures. However, the ICLE argues that existing competition from high-growth players like Google and AI-specialized providers suggests the market is not yet entrenched. If the Commission ignores these shifts, it risks over-regulating an infrastructure layer that is already seeing quality-adjusted price drops. Watch for the Commission's final decision in late 2026, which will signal how strictly it views the intersection of cloud scale and AI lock-in.

The European Commission’s push to regulate cloud providers as gatekeepers marks the first time the Digital Markets Act (DMA) has been applied to infrastructure rather than consumer-facing services. Per recent reporting from Bloomberg and Al Weekly in June 2026, the Commission's preliminary view rests on the belief that cloud giants use AI-integration and high switching costs to maintain 65-70% of EU cloud revenue. This move coincides with the implementation of the EU Data Act which, as of September 2025, already mandates core user rights and cloud-switching obligations. Per DLA Piper and Kemp IT Law in mid-2026, further Data Act provisions including a complete ban on cloud switching charges are scheduled to take effect in January 2027.

While the EU pursues aggressive designation, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has taken a different path. According to Macfarlanes and Steptoe in April 2026, the CMA opted not to launch formal Strategic Market Status (SMS) investigations into the cloud units of Microsoft and Amazon. Instead, the UK regulator accepted voluntary commitments from both firms to lower egress fees and improve interoperability, citing significant "market developments" since its 2025 market study. This divergence highlights a split in how major regulators view the durability of cloud dominance in the face of rapid AI innovation.

Contributing to this shifting market landscape is the explosive growth of specialized GPU-centric providers. Per Synergy Research Group and CRN in May 2026, global cloud spending hit $129 billion in Q1 2026 as AI workloads drove the highest growth rates since 2021. This boom has fueled the rise of 'neoclouds' like CoreWeave and Lambda, which according to Fortune and Gartner reporting in June 2026, are on track to capture nearly $23 billion in annual revenue. These firms are increasingly serving as high-performance alternatives for enterprise AI, complicating the traditional narrative of three-provider hyperscaler dominance.