The French search engine Qwant has just suffered a decisive setback, and a significant one at that…
In an official statement , the French Competition Authority rejected Microsoft’s complaint against it for anti-competitive practices related to Bing. The French company considers this decision harsh and has decided to appeal.
Behind this issue lies the whole question of research syndication and, more broadly, access to the infrastructure essential for generative AI.
A refusal by the regulator that reignites the debate on competition
The decision had been expected since mid-October, and the French Competition Authority confirmed that Qwant failed to demonstrate that Microsoft held a dominant position in the business search market. According to the French regulator, Google is the primary market leader in this segment, an analysis aligned with the conclusions of the European Commission .
The same conclusion was reached regarding the ” economic dependence ” argument , where the regulator considers that Qwant, despite being a customer of Microsoft technologies since 2016 and even of Microsoft Azure since 2019 , has not demonstrated a situation of abuse.
Qwant strongly disputes this assessment in an article published in Les Echos . The company denounces an interpretation that ” minimizes ” the real impact of Microsoft’s practices, citing in particular a sharp increase in Bing Search API prices at the beginning of 2023 and contractual conditions deemed discriminatory.
For its part, Microsoft welcomes this outcome and reiterates its ambition to offer ” high-quality ” search services to European players. However, Qwant believes this decision lacks ambition at a time when Europe is seeking to build credible digital sovereignty.
Between syndication and generative AI, a locked-down market according to Qwant
Beyond classic web search, the dossier touches on a central subject, namely access to the data essential for generative AI .
Qwant points out that Google does not offer its technology through syndication, leaving Microsoft as the only significant provider of indexing services to alternative European search engines. This structuring role, according to the French company, gives Bing real weight in this specific segment .
The company also accuses Microsoft of having stifled its model by stopping the Bing Search API in 2025 in favor of an AI agent-oriented service, while having doubled prices as early as 2023. The CEO, Olivier Abecassis , claims that these choices have halved Qwant’s revenues and even hindered the development of a European alternative.
But Qwant’s situation is much deeper, and the stakes go far beyond its case , because for the company it is about guaranteeing European players fair access to research infrastructures, the cornerstone of all innovation in AI.
While awaiting the review of its appeal, the company says it wants to continue building an open , responsible ecosystem rooted in a concrete vision of digital sovereignty…