Microsoft said on Monday that it’ll separate Groups from the remainder of its Workplace suite. In keeping with a report unique to Reuters, the tech big will unbundle the 2 merchandise in a potential effort to keep away from antitrust fines.

The worldwide transfer arrived six months after Microsoft pushed Groups out of its Workplace product in Europe. The European Fee has been wanting into the Groups and Workplace bundle since 2020 when Microsoft competitor Slack filed an antitrust criticism.

Microsoft linked Groups to its “dominant Workplace product, drive putting in it and blocking its removing,” David Schellhase, common counsel at Slack, claimed to The Verge on the time.

^{A display screen exhibits a digital assembly with Microsoft Groups at ISE 2024. Picture by Cesc Maymo/Getty Pictures}

Microsoft responded to the criticism by “proactively” unbundling Groups from Workplace within the EU to “assist a wholesome aggressive setting,” in accordance with an August weblog put up from the corporate.

Sensor Tower knowledge cited by Reuters discovered that the dimensions of the Microsoft Groups userbase within the space has stayed principally the identical since then.

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The worldwide transfer introduced right this moment expands on what Microsoft began to do final yr within the EU, per a Microsoft spokesperson’s assertion to Reuters.

Microsoft has needed to pay hefty fines over antitrust points to the EU earlier than, from the document $1.4 billion the corporate was compelled to pay in 2004 to the $732 million it paid in 2013.