EU ANTITRUST
Sun Pharma Q2 profit takes a hit on exceptional items
Sun Pharmaceutical has seen a notable 36% drop in net profit, juxtaposed with an 11.8% rise in consolidated revenue. The uplift in revenue can be attributed largely to strong sales growth in India and emerging markets, particularly in domestic formulations. Conversely, US formulation sales faced a significant downturn. The company also marked progress in its integration planning for the acquisition of Organon, following the successful completion of regulatory approvals.
Sun Pharma Q2 profit falls 36% as litigation costs hit earnings
Sun Pharma reported a 36% decline in Q2FY27 net profit to Rs 1,989 crore due to exceptional litigation and acquisition-related costs. Revenue grew 11.8%, supported by strong domestic and emerging market sales, while US formulations weakened.
Meta delays indefinitely its rollout of new commercial terms after publishers' concerns
EU and UK antitrust authorities have received complaints about the new terms, which publishers and digital advertisers said would give Meta an unlimited right to use their content for its AI services. Meta has rejected the claims.
Microsoft stock (MSFT) falls as US targets green card filings for H-1B workers and Italy probes gaming business
Microsoft stock fell nearly 2% as the US targeted Microsoft’s green card filings for H-1B workers, while Italy opened an investigation into Microsoft-owned gaming companies over virtual currencies, consumer protection and gaming practices.
Italy launches EU-backed probe into Microsoft-owned gaming companies
Italy's probe is aimed at Activision Blizzard, among other companies of the Microsoft group, the antitrust authority said in a statement, without naming the others
Polish regulator suspects Google abused dominant position in publisher payment talks
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, known by its Polish abbreviation UOKiK, said the charges relate to how Google negotiates remuneration for displaying articles and snippets in its search results, Google News and Discover services.

Paramount Skydance settles with 12 states, clearing hurdle to $110 billion Warner Bros deal
Paramount Skydance has settled with California and 11 other states that sued to block its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, removing a major US antitrust hurdle to the deal. Under the settlement, CNN and CBS would get independent editorial boards, while Paramount would face a $30 million penalty per film for falling short of its commitment to release 30 movies annually. The deal still faces remaining regulatory and closing steps, with Paramount also seeking to avoid a $7 million-a-day fee tied to delays beyond September 30.

Europe's AI firms, playing catch-up, challenge US calls for slowdown
Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei in an online essay urged firms to slow the pace at which they improve AI model capabilities and called for an antitrust waiver allowing leading developers to jointly develop safety measures after researchers warned about the dangers of AI, including that it could wipe out humanity.

Google defeats US bid to force ad tech sale
While the ad exchange is a small part of Google's business, the ruling is the second powerful symbolic victory against the U.S. Department of Justice in its efforts to force Google to sell assets to address illegal monopolies.

Opera loses court challenge against EU exemption of Microsoft's Edge from DMA rules
The European Commission in its 2024 decision said Edge was not an important gateway for businesses to reach users even though it met the quantitative criteria set out under the Digital Markets Act which sets out a list of dos and don'ts for Big Tech.

EU antitrust regulators quiz publishers on Google's AI search opt-out
The publishers' feedback could determine the outcome of an ongoing EU investigation that could result in yet another hefty fine for Google if the proposal fails to address competition concerns and publishers' worries about unfair use of their content.

Google changes spam policy in EU to avert antitrust fine
The EU said that its monitoring showed that Google's spam policy demoted news media and other publishers' websites and content in Google search results, when those websites include content from commercial partners.

Meta says EU antitrust regulators are discriminating against its business model
The tech giant said the European Commission had discriminated against its business model and that it had nevertheless engaged constructively in discussions and introduced extensive changes.

Airbus, Thales, Leonardo CEOs to discuss satellite merger with EU antitrust chief
Airbus, Thales, and Leonardo are exploring a potential merger of their satellite businesses to better compete with companies like Elon Musk's Starlink. Executives from the three European aerospace companies are scheduled to meet with EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera on Wednesday to discuss the tentative plans.

Big Tech, calls for looser rules await new EU antitrust chief
Nominated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for the high-profile antitrust post on Tuesday, Ribera has been Spain's minister for ecological transition since 2018.

EU court upholds $2.7 billion antitrust fine on Google
The fine is one of three penalties levied by the European Commission against Google in the past decade for various antitrust infringements that have cost the company 8.25 billion euros in total.

No formal investigation into AI chips, EU antitrust regulators say
Bloomberg News last week said the EU antitrust watchdog was informally collecting views on potentially abusive practices in the market for graphics process units.

EU antitrust regulators rejected Meta offer to curb use of ad data, sources say
Meta Platforms offered to curb the use of competitors' advertising data for its Facebook Marketplace online classified service in an attempt to settle an EU antitrust investigation but it was not accepted by regulators, people familiar with the matter said.

Google loses EU antitrust appeal, to pay €4.12 billion fine
The ruling against Google is a boost for EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager following setbacks in cases involving other tech giants such as Intel and Qualcomm this year.
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