Slack and Microsoft have clashed over comments made by the latter’s CEO in a media interview.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Satya Nadella suggested that Slack would not exist without the Windows operating system.
“I always ask the question, would Slack have even existed if it was not for the free access they had on top of, say, the Windows platform?” he said.
“They didn’t have to call Microsoft. They didn’t have to go through any of our app stores.
“They didn’t need any of our permission compared to any of the other platforms that they’re available on. We perhaps provide the most open platform in Windows and even in Office 365.”
Nadella’s slightly off-the-cuff comments were not received well by Slack, with Slack VP, Jonathan Prince, firing back aggressively in an email sent to Business Insider.
“The idea that Slack wouldn’t exist without the company that has tried to copy and then destroy it is as silly as it is irrelevant,” he said.
“The only relevant question is whether Microsoft is illegally abusing its dominance and tying Teams to its apps and services in order to protect its chokehold on enterprise software and prevent the discovery and adoption of new and innovative tools”
Prince was referring to legal action brought by Slack against Microsoft last year.
Slack, which is set to be acquired by Salesforce, claims that Microsoft is being anti-competitive by bundling Teams in with its other apps as a free service – something Microsoft denies.
The tension between the pair started when Microsoft announced Teams in November 2016.
Slack took out an advert in the New York Times to write a passive-aggressive open letter to Microsoft, claiming it was “genuinely excited to have some competition”.
