Amazon Cloud Draws New US Antitrust Scrutiny

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is moving forward with antitrust scrutiny of Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud computing business, according to people familiar with the matter.

Lina Khan, a director of the agency and a critic of the online retailer, is working on an investigation started several years ago by her predecessor.

In recent months, commission investigators (FTChave contacted companies to gather information about competition concerns related to Amazon Web Services, said the people, who declined to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the scope. At least one of the contacts was made in recent weeks, one of the people said.

The focus on Amazon’s $ 16 billion cloud business, which generates most of the e-commerce giant’s profits, comes as Khan has set his sights on the conduct of America’s biggest tech companies.

KhanA former professor at Columbia Law School, she rose to prominence in antitrust circles warning of the threats companies like Amazon pose to competition in the digital economy.

A theme that FTC I could consider is if Amazon has an incentive to discriminate against software companies that sell their products to customers of AWS, while at the same time competing with Amazon. The fear is that Amazon could punish companies that work with other cloud service providers and favor those with whom it works exclusively.

The FTC’s investigation into Amazon It began during the Trump Administration under former President Joe Simons. The agency has conducted investigations into Amazon’s retail business as well as the cloud services division, according to reports from Bloomberg.

Amazon has provided information to the FTC in response to the agency’s requests, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Amazon and the FTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The company filed a petition with the agency in June seeking Khan’s disqualification of antitrust enforcement decisions against Amazon. The company argues that its previous criticisms of the company show that it is biased.