US ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT
Democratic wins in state Attorney General races give Donald Trump a new headache
Democrats have achieved significant victories by winning attorney general races in five traditionally Republican-leaning states. This shift may hinder conservative legal strategies and provide resistance to President Donald Trump's policies. Incoming Democratic attorneys general plan to refocus on consumer protection and environmental issues while reviewing previous legal actions by their Republican predecessors.
US DOJ is inquiring about Nvidia's purchase of Hugging Face
The Justice Department's recent questioning covers Nvidia's acquisitions, investments, sales practices, and whether the chip designer has exerted pressure on its customers, the two people said.
Apple names Meta veteran Scott Tucker as litigation chief in legal team shake-up
Apple has hired former Meta litigation chief Scott Tucker as vice president of global litigation and financial services, strengthening its legal leadership amid mounting antitrust, patent and other lawsuits. The appointment is part of a broader reorganisation under General Counsel Jennifer Newstead, as the iPhone maker faces legal setbacks threatening its services business.
Inside McDonald's push to have AI price your Big Mac
McDonald's has implemented artificial intelligence to optimize pricing strategies across its restaurants and franchises. This pricing model analyzes customer willingness to pay, creating variations in prices for identical menu items. Franchisees report pressure to adopt these AI-driven pricing recommendations despite the company's claims of their independence. Concerns regarding antitrust implications are raised as franchises may be seen as competitors.
Senate passes 'Protect College Sports Act' that would rein in athlete payments and transfers
The Senate has passed a bipartisan bill that aims to regulate college sports and athlete payments. This legislation seeks to address the chaos in the industry caused by increased athlete payments and frequent transfers. New protections for student athletes are included, such as caps on agent fees and health insurance guarantees. Critics argue that the bill does not do enough to protect athletes or limit excessive spending.
Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI, Google face federal antitrust lawsuit over calls to slowdown AI development
According to a news report by Politico, the complaint filed in the Northern District Court of California, claims that public statements made earlier this month amounted to an illegal business agreement between competitors under US antitrust law. The matter began with Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei issuing a public plea for "industry-wide coordination" to "pace the frontier" of artificial intelligence advancement.
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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.
Meta defeats Instagram shopping monopoly lawsuit for now
US Magistrate Judge Virginia DeMarchi in San Jose, California, on Friday dismissed claims brought by London-based Ollywan, which had alleged last year that Meta copied its concept for a "tag-based" shopping platform before launching Instagram Shopping in 2016.
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.
Paramount to face legal challenge from states on Warner deal
Top lawyers from approximately 10 states, led by California, are preparing a legal challenge to Paramount Skydance Corp.'s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The antitrust suit aims to block the mega-deal, citing concerns over reduced competition and bargaining power within the entertainment industry.
Meta offers rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp for a month
Meta Platforms is offering rival AI chatbots free access to its WhatsApp messaging service for one month. This move comes as Meta discusses commitments with EU antitrust regulators. The European Commission had indicated it was inclined to order Meta to provide such access. Previously, Meta had restricted its own AI assistant to WhatsApp, later proposing a fee for rivals.
Google says it will appeal online search antitrust decision
Google plans to appeal the antitrust decision regarding its online search monopoly, disagreeing with the court's initial ruling. While awaiting the court's opinion, Google maintains its stance. The Justice Department seeks measures like data sharing and ending default search engine payments to Apple, concerned about Google's AI advantage.
EU denies picking on US tech giants, says US also tackling monopolisation
The EU reassured US lawmakers that the Digital Markets Act (DMA) isn’t targeting American tech giants but aims to ensure fair competition. EU officials highlighted similar US antitrust actions and dismissed concerns about innovation and fines.
Google wins legal bid to overturn 1.5 billion euro antitrust fine in EU digital ad case
The European Union's General Court said it was throwing out the 2019 penalty imposed by the European Commission, which is the 27-nation bloc's top antitrust enforcer.
Google has an illegal monopoly on search, US judge finds
This move is also a green light to aggressive US antitrust enforcers prosecuting Big Tech, a sector that has been under fire from across the political spectrum. The ruling paves the way for a second trial to determine potential fixes, possibly including a breakup of Google parent Alphabet, which would change the landscape of the online advertising world that Google has dominated for years.
Trump VP pick JD Vance supports Big Tech antitrust crackdown
Vance, a Republican U.S. senator from Ohio, joined the presidential ticket on Monday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump officially became the party's nominee.
US antitrust enforcer says pressing on with fight against Microsoft/Activision deal
In the United States, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has also fought the deal, and has an argument scheduled before an appeals court on Dec. 6. The agency said on Friday that it remained focused on that appeal.
US regulators unveil antitrust roadmap with Big Tech in crosshairs
U.S. antitrust regulators published guidelines on Wednesday on the kinds of mergers and acquisitions they object to, reaffirming the skepticism with which President Joe Biden's administration has approached many deals, especially in the technology sector.
US warns Big Tech more deals will be target by new guidelines
The Biden administration has taken a tougher stance on mergers overall, filing some aggressive merger challenges, but has struggled to win in court with two losses just last week.
US antitrust enforcers tackle digital platforms in new merger guidelines
The guidelines also specify that a merger should not eliminate a potential entrant in a concentrated market or create a situation in which a firm buys a company that provides inputs for the acquirer's competitors.
US antitrust enforcer says generative AI 'raises competition concerns'
Generative AI, which is best known for ChatGPT, raises competition concerns and is a focus of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Technology along with its Office of Technology, the agency said in a blog post by the staff of the two offices.
Alphabet seeks dismissal of US antitrust lawsuit over Google's online ads
Google argued that the case should be thrown out because the government had erred in defining the online advertising market and improperly excluded powerful competitors such as Facebook.
US antitrust officials ask to join arguments in Apple appeal
In January, the Justice Department entered the case by filing a brief. Antitrust officials said they did not support either side in the disputes at hand but were concerned that the lower court's ruling had improperly interpreted the Sherman Act, the country's primary antitrust law. On Friday, US officials asked for 10 minutes of argument time.
US Senate bill would limit big tech mergers
The bill would make it easier for the government to stop deals it believes break antitrust law by requiring the companies to prove to a judge that the deals are good for competition, and therefore legal.
Lina Khan's US FTC said to review Amazon-MGM deal
Amazon said in May that it would buy the US movie studio, home to the James Bond franchise, in an $8.45 billion deal
U.S. House committee approves blueprint for Big Tech crackdown
The report first released in October - the first such congressional review of the tech industry - suggested extensive changes to antitrust law and described dozens of instances where it said the companies had misused their power.
Biden should expand antitrust cases, break up tech companies, says high-profile group
The American Economic Liberties Project, an influential Washington-based anti-monopoly group, issued a report with guidance for antitrust enforcers in the next administration. The group is led by Sarah Miller, who is working with President-elect Joe Biden's transition team and has been instrumental in making antitrust enforcement against Big Tech a mainstream issue.
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