Regulators worldwide are examining whether dominant cloud providers bundle services in ways that disadvantage rivals.
For developers, the near-term impact includes potential changes to data egress fees, interoperability rules, and contract terms.
If scrutiny lowers switching costs, multi-cloud architectures could become cheaper, spurring competition in managed databases, AI platforms, and analytics stacks. Conversely, compliance overhead could raise prices temporarily as providers retool offerings.
Builders should design with portability in mind: containerized workloads, open standards, and clear data-export procedures. Procurement teams can negotiate for price-protection clauses and transparent usage reporting. In an antitrust-aware era, architectural agility is a competitive advantage.