US ANTITRUST LAWSUIT
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.
Tesla misled South Korean customers about automated-driving tech, consumer group alleges
Tesla has marketed Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software to prospective buyers in South Korea for years, often collecting lump-sum payments of 9.043 million won ($6,726).
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.
McDonald's McRib is back on menu in selected outlets, cities: Check launch date, all about McDonald's iconic sandwich
McDonald's McRib sandwich was first introduced in Kansas City in 1981. Subsequently, in 1982, McDonald's McRib was made available across the United States of America.
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.
How AI triggered a federal lawsuit? McDonald’s sued over AI pricing: What the Big Mac case says about franchisee independence
McDonald’s is facing a federal antitrust lawsuit over its AI-powered pricing tools. Illinois resident Michael Thomas alleges the system uses shared, nonpublic data from thousands of restaurants to influence menu prices at each location. The lawsuit claims the central software uses shared sales data across 14,000 locations to coordinate prices, undercutting franchisee independence. It highlights two nearby Fresno stores charging $5.69 and $6.89 for the exact same Big Mac. McDonald's denies the allegations, stating franchisees retain total control over menu pricing.
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Nvidia’s $20 billion Groq deal under fire: Why shareholders are suing
In a striking legal development, two ex-Groq engineers have taken Nvidia to court over alleged mismanagement of their technology and personnel. The lawsuit alleges that crucial investors were sidelined during the $20 billion transaction. Additionally, shareholders are asserting they were inadequately compensated, while select employees enjoyed substantial payouts. Ongoing investigations into potential antitrust issues highlight worries about market consolidation in such deals, emphasizing the necessity for rigorous legal examination.

McDonald’s sued in US over alleged AI-powered price coordination across franchises
McDonald's is facing a federal lawsuit for allegedly coordinating prices with franchises using an AI-powered pricing system. The complaint claims this practice violates US antitrust laws by fixing prices unlawfully. Furthermore, the lawsuit cites a Reuters article discussing the use of AI for pricing by various fast-food companies. McDonald's denies the allegations and asserts that franchisees set their own prices independently.

Qualcomm and Arm head to trial again, potential for huge damages in focus
Qualcomm also alleges that Arm leaked to the media its 2024 threat to terminate a vital license agreement in a way that damaged discussions for a chip deal between Qualcomm and Meta Platforms.

Paramount CEO Ellison asks CNN chief Thompson to stay after Warner Bros deal, source says
Paramount CEO David Ellison is negotiating with CNN CEO Mark Thompson to extend his contract and ensure editorial independence. Discussions have not yet finalized on the terms of Thompson's continued leadership. A new acquisition will merge CNN and CBS News under one ownership structure. Furthermore, Paramount must establish an independent board for maintaining editorial autonomy post-merger.

Google wins dismissal of Chegg, Penske Media lawsuits over AI overviews
In his ruling on Wednesday, US District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington said Chegg and Penske's claims that Google's business practices violate antitrust law "fail to get out of the starting gate."

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.

College sports gets its Congress moment: Inside the Senate-passed Protect College Sports Act
The Protect College Sports Act was passed by the US Senate, setting federal rules for college athletics. This legislation governs how athletes can earn money, transfer schools, and receive revenue. The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration and potential amendments. Supporters argue that federal law is necessary to stabilize college sports and prevent further litigation.

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.

OpenAI says SEC disclosures undermine xAI's antitrust lawsuit
ChatGPT maker OpenAI asked a Texas federal judge to throw out an antitrust lawsuit brought by Elon Musk's AI startup xAI before trial, arguing that

Spinny books IPO ride; UPI subsidies may end
Spinny has confidentially filed for its initial public offering. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.

AI leaders called for a slowdown; now they're being sued over it
AI leaders’ calls for slowing the pace of artificial intelligence development have triggered a fresh debate over safety, competition and regulation. Now, a lawsuit accusing major AI companies of antitrust violations has added another twist to the debate.

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.
Meta's Mark Zuckerberg says AI labs have enough incentive to build safely
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday that competition and liability give AI companies enough reason to act individually on safety, appearing to break from calls by leaders of top AI firms for a coordinated slowdown in AI development.

Iowa man sued Nintendo to become a certified ‘Professor of Pokémon’ and sought $341,000; judge calls case ‘completely frivolous’
A federal judge has thrown out Kyle Owens' lawsuit against Nintendo and Pokémon Company International. Owens aimed to achieve the status of an official Pokémon Professor, but his application was denied due to a pending arrest warrant found during his background check. The judge criticized his outrageous damages claim of $341,000 as a misuse of judicial resources and cautioned Owens against future frivolous filings.

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.

Amazon sued by US FTC, 22 states over alleged $20 billion ad auction overcharges
The US FTC and 22 states have sued Amazon, alleging it manipulated digital advertising auctions and overcharged about 1.2 million customers by more than $20 billion. Amazon rejected the allegations as misguided and flawed. The lawsuit targets Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display, intensifying scrutiny of the tech giant.

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.

FTC's Amazon antitrust lawsuit faces high bar in US court: experts
Legal experts believe that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Amazon, accusing it of abusing its market power, will face challenges in court. The lawsuit tests the scope of U.S. antitrust law and poses obstacles for the agency.

Google makes emergency request to block Texas antitrust lawsuit move
The US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in June granted the state's request to send the lawsuit back to a federal court in Texas.

Texas wins round against Google as antitrust lawsuit returned to state
Texas had asked for the lawsuit to be moved back after the US Congress passed the Venue Act in 2022 that grants state attorneys general the right to choose where an antitrust lawsuit will be litigated.

Nine more US states join federal lawsuit against Google over ad tech
The states joining the lawsuit were Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Washington and West Virginia, the department said.

Google to ask judge to toss US antitrust lawsuit over search dominance
The government, which filed its lawsuit in the waning days of the Trump administration, will likely defend its complaint, which said that Alphabet's Google acts illegally in paying billions of dollars each year to smartphone makers like Apple, LG, Motorola and Samsung, carriers like Verizon and browsers like Mozilla to be the default search for their customers.

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.
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