08:43 AM EST, 11/28/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with Qwant's response in the fourth and fifth paragraphs)

France's antitrust regulator said Thursday it dismissed a complaint filed by Qwant against Microsoft ( MSFT ) as the search engine failed to provide sufficient evidence.

Qwant had asked the Autorite de la concurrence to impose interim measures against Microsoft ( MSFT ) for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the industry and keeping Qwant in a state of economic dependence, the regulator said.

Qwant, which has been partly using Microsoft's ( MSFT ) Bing search engine since 2016, had alleged that Microsoft ( MSFT ) engaged in exclusivity and tied selling practices, restricting the French company's capacity to build an artificial intelligence model and engaging in discriminatory practices against it in search-related online advertising, the regulator said.

Qwant will appeal the French antitrust regulator's decision, it said in an emailed statement to MT Newswires.

"We deeply regret this decision, which minimizes the real impact of Microsoft's ( MSFT ) anti-competitive practices on the European search and web access market," Qwant said.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MT Newswires.