CISPE raises the alarm over Google’s Wiz acquisition

Warns that Google could dominate AI sector, push out European cloud providers and lock in customers

Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE) has expressed concerns about Google's acquisition of the cloud security firm Wiz, warning that it could lead to unfair licensing practices and customer lock-in, potentially harming European cloud providers.

Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE) has announced concerns over Google’s acquisition of cloud security firm Wiz, warning that the European Commission risks repeating mistakes made when approving the Broadcom-VMware merger.

The deal raises two main issues for CISPE members.

Through control of Wiz’s licensed software, Google could gain both the ability and incentive to impose what the organisation describes as unfair licensing terms, potentially locking customers into its expanding cloud ecosystem to the detriment of European cloud infrastructure providers.

These fears come as customers increasingly adopt AI-driven solutions reliant on both cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure, areas where Google’s full-stack presence is considered strong.

Google is now the second largest company in the world by market capitalisation and is vastly better funded than any European cloud rival, says CISPE.

The watchdog group estimates that Alphabet holds around 2,000 times more investable cash than Europe’s largest cloud player, OVHcloud, with nearly $100bn (£74.3bn) compared with €40m.

CISPE warns that in the age of AI, the vendor has the scale, data, models and investment capacity to dominate the sector, push European players out of the market and lock in customers.

The statement also reflects growing debate around tech sovereignty, including cloud repatriation.

Customers are increasingly concerned about where their data is stored and which jurisdiction governs it, a trend that has gained momentum under the Trump administration.

“We are seeing an increasing number of people raising these issues and wanting their concerns addressed,” Eamonn O’Neill, co-founder and CTO of Lemongrass, told our sister publication CRN.

On the other hand, some market observers argue European technology has yet to match the breadth of US offerings.

John-David Lovelock, VP analyst at Gartner, said IT independence remains “a fantasy” at present.

“You may wish to buy European and say you’re buying European, but you’re unlikely to accept a worse product at a higher price that no one will see or care about,” he explained in an interview with CRN.

CISPE also warns that Google’s ownership of Wiz could increase the risk of data leakage between cloud environments.

It argues that the firm could gain unfair insight into customer data, behaviour and usage on third-party clouds and use this to steer clients towards Google Cloud at the expense of smaller European competitors. EU antitrust regulators will decide by 10 February whether to clear the acquisition. If the deal is blocked, Google could be forced to pay Wiz a $3.2bn breakup fee. The $32bn takeover was officially cleared by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in November 2025. The warning follows CISPE’s appeal to the EU General Court against the European Commission’s approval of Broadcom’s buyout of VMware.

The organisation argued that while the Commission acknowledged competition risks, it imposed no conditions to prevent market concentration or mitigate potential abuse of dominance.

CISPE claimed Broadcom terminated contracts with little notice and introduced restrictive licensing terms, including steep price increases and mandatory multi-year commitments. Last month, it also filed a complaint with the European Ombudsman over delays in publishing the Commission’s reasoning for approving the merger.

CISPE said the 672-day delay prevented affected European firms from lodging timely appeals, amounting to a denial of justice against what it describes as “bullyboy tactics.”

This article first appeared in our sister publication, CRN.