The Federal Trade Commission has spent the past year and a half building a case that could test whether Microsoft’s dominance in enterprise software, cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence crosses into illegal territory. What began as a quiet inquiry in late 2024 has expanded. Regulators now press the company’s competitors for answers on licensing terms, product bundling and barriers that keep customers locked in. At least half a dozen rivals in business software and cloud computing received civil investigative demands in recent weeks. The requests seek details on how Microsoft structures its deals, according to people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg first reported the escalation . And the agency shows particular interest in Azure, Copilot and the way security, identity and AI features get packaged together. Short. Direct. The probe continues without pause from one administration to the next. Back in November 2024 the FTC sent Microsoft its own detailed demand for information.…