How big is too big? And when does a company become so big that the government is forced to step in and make it smaller? Politicians have been struggling with those questions for at least a hundred years. But as the latest generation of tech companies has taken shape, the questions are becoming more and more relevant to internet giants like Google and Facebook. There’s a new movement in Washington to break up those companies, whether through a Justice Department lawsuit or an old-school appeal to the Sherman Antitrust Act. It’s a struggle Microsoft fended off in the ‘90s, and it has only grown more urgent in the years since. As Amazon has taken a stranglehold of online retail, Jeff Bezos’ company has started to attract antitrust attention as well, with figures like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Lina Khan taking aim at Amazon’s cutthroat competitive strategies. If it succeeds, it would be one of the most ambitious government projects in a generation — but success is still a long way off.
Selling Chrome might not be the most painful part of the DOJ’s antitrust demands for Google.
Filed in 2020, the FTC’s antitrust case against Meta accuses the social networking giant of stifling competition through its acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram. The trial will take place on April 14th — just days before a judge will hear the proposed remedies in Google’s antitrust case.
An onslaught of antitrust lawsuits could drastically change what Google looks like and how it operates — even if they don’t succeed.
Alphabet’s top lawyer says the agency’s proposed remedies, which include selling off Chrome, are part of “a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global technology leadership.”
If adopted, Kent Walker says the security and privacy “of millions of Americans” would be endangered, trade secrets would be sent to foreign companies, AI progress and innovation would be stymied, and the world as we know it would basically end.
Rumble, the YouTube rival popular with the right for its anti-”cancel culture” approach, is “very interested in acquiring Google Chrome,” CEO Chris Pavlovski says. He was responding to a Bloomberg report that the government is planning to ask a court to require Google to sell the browser as part of the antitrust case against its search business. Rumble notably brought its own antitrust suit against Google years ago.
In the waning months of Democratic control, the Federal Trade Commission is getting ready to probe Microsoft for alleged anticompetitive behavior, The Financial Times reports.
It plans to demand documents from Microsoft related to allegations that it makes it unduly difficult for customers to move from the Azure cloud by imposing sharp exit fees and other tactics. The FTC declined to comment.
[Financial Times]
Donald Trump’s second term means significant changes for AI, crypto, and EV policy.
The company has successfully reduced its record-setting EU fine of €1.06 billion to €376.36 million, at most. It was levied way back in 2009 after the x86 maker was found guilty of anticompetitive practices like paying PC makers to halt or delay the launch of products fitted with competing chips.
So, is the legal battle over? Nope! But Intel’s definitely not a dominant chipmaker anymore.
While platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and the App Store deal with Digital Markets Act regulations put on powerful digital gatekeepers, the service formerly known as Twitter won’t have that problem:
Following a thorough assessment of all arguments, including input by relevant stakeholders, and after consulting the Digital Markets Advisory Committee, the Commission concluded that X does indeed not qualify as a gatekeeper in relation to its online social networking service, given that the investigation revealed that X is not an important gateway for business users to reach end users.
Last week, Judge Donato ruled that Google would have to open up Android to third-party app stores starting November 1st — but Google immediately filed an appeal and asked for an emergency stay.
Now, the judge will hear Google’s motion on October 18th. If he grants it, it could be years until Google makes changes, even if higher courts agree with his ruling.
Couple things here: It’s the DOJ, not Lina Khan’s FTC, that is currently pursuing a breakup of Google and in the middle of a giant Apple antitrust case, so it’s not even clear Cuban has pointed his ire at the correct target with this comment. And what a wild political re-alignment when AOC and JD Vance agree that Khan is doing a good job!
Following a final ruling that says Google will have to open up the Play Store to third-party marketplaces, Google reaffirmed its plans to appeal the decision.
At the same time, Google is also asking the court to pause Epic Games’ requests to distribute rival app stores and adjust its payment system. Apple was granted a reprieve during its Epic legal battle last year.
In a sealed order, a federal judge granted part of Amazon’s motion to dismiss, but gave the Federal Trade Commission a chance to re-file at least some of those charges by the end of the month. Like Google’s antitrust trials, the judge said this one will be split up into a liability and remedy phase, if the court finds for the FTC.
To wrap up its case, Google tried to fit it into a Supreme Court precedent that could undermine the government’s argument.
Closing arguments in their ad tech antitrust trial will start at 10AM that day. But for now, it’s a wrap.
The final day saw a couple of depositions from Google — including testimony from Ryan Pauley, chief revenue officer at Verge parent company Vox Media — plus a Daily Mail executive who returned in a short but heated DOJ rebuttal.
‘All roads lead back to Google,’ the government argued in the first two weeks of its ad tech antitrust trial.
Bloomberg reports that “a formal chargesheet” is being prepared by EU officials, taking issue with how it presents rivals on search services like Google Flights and Google Hotels.
Search is already under antitrust fire in the US, and those findings could lead to a big financial penalty under the DMA, although things could change before a final decision is due before April 2025.
I’ve been going to this extremely wonky and jargon-y trial almost every day, and I joined Decoder to translate the highlights so far. The trial — which is only accessible in-person from an Alexandria, VA courtroom — is in its second week. Google is expected to start calling witnesses any day now, once the Justice Department wraps its chief case.
In 2019, three years after the case began, the European Commission fined Google €1.5 billion after determining that it forced customers of its AdSense business to sign anticompetitive contracts. On appeal, the EU’s second highest court said it “upholds the majority of the findings” but annuls the fine. But don’t worry! The Commission can still appeal the decision ensuring another year or two of legal fees.
