Microsoft announced on Thursday that it would separate its Teams chat and video software from its Office package.
This will make it simpler for rival products to integrate with its software, but competitors claim it may need to take more steps to avoid a potential EU antitrust sanction.
The proposed modifications came a month after the European Commission opened an investigation into Microsoft’s integration of Office and Teams in response to a complaint made by the rival workspace messaging service Slack, which is owned by Salesforce.
The actions Microsoft outlined on Thursday were a continuation of earlier compromises that had not been sufficient to allay regulatory worries.
Teams was a free addition to Office 365 in 2017. Because of its video conferencing, it gradually took the position of Skype for Business and grew in popularity across the pandemic.
The update will be applicable in the EU and Switzerland starting on October 1.
