Microsoft looks to leapfrog Big Tech competitors with major acquisitions

Microsoft is trying to leapfrog competitors like Google and Amazon as they face record antitrust scrutiny.

The big picture: The deals Microsoft has been eyeing are larger than its usual targets and bigger than those of its competitors.

Driving the news: Microsoft announced Monday it would buy Nuance Communications, a software company that focuses on speech recognition through artificial intelligence, in an all-cash transaction valued at $19.7 billion (including debt assumption).

• This is Microsoft's second-largest acquisition, behind the $26.2 billion deal for LinkedIn in 2016.

Microsoft tried to buy TikTok's U.S. operations last year in a deal reportedly valued between $10 billion to $30 billion. Reports suggest it's in advanced talks with gaming chat app Discord for a deal worth more than $10 billion.

• A report in February suggested Microsoft was eyeing a takeover of Pinterest, worth $51 billion on the public market. Last September, it bought gaming giant ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion.