Hacker News with Generative AI: Antitrust

Y Combinator says Google is a monopolist, no comment about its OpenAI ties (techcrunch.com)
Fabled startup investor and accelerator Y Combinator has some choice words for Google in an amicus brief it just submitted in the U.S.’s monopoly case against the search giant.

Y Combinator, Google, Antitrust, Monopolies, OpenAI

126 points by mastazi 10 days ago | 42 comments

Google Search Engineer Rants on DOJ's Anti-Trust Case (seroundtable.com)
Ryan Moulton, a Google Search engineer who works on Google's search rankings algorithms for over 18 years now, went to X to call out some of what the courts are saying as not true.

Google Search, Antitrust, Lawsuits, Social Media, Technology

4 points by rexbee 10 days ago | 1 comments

Google Facing at Least €12B in Civil Claims Across Europe (bloomberg.com)
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is facing at least €12 billion in damage claims from dozens of price comparison websites across the European Union which allege that the search and advertising giant stole their customers, according to a Bloomberg News review.

Google, Antitrust, Europe, Lawsuits, Business

11 points by mfiguiere 11 days ago | 1 comments

Senators probe Google–Anthropic, Microsoft–OpenAI deals over antitrust concerns (computerworld.com)
Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden have launched a formal inquiry into partnerships between tech giants Google and Microsoft, and AI startups, demanding detailed information about arrangements they fear may be circumventing antitrust scrutiny while consolidating power in the rapidly evolving AI market.

Antitrust, AI, Google, Microsoft, Technology

7 points by byte-bolter 13 days ago | 0 comments

US vs. Google amicus curiae brief of Y Combinator in support of plaintiffs [pdf] (courtlistener.com)

Legal Cases, Technology, Startups, Google, Antitrust

412 points by dave1629 13 days ago | 947 comments

DOJ's extreme proposals will hurt consumers and America's tech leadership (google)
The remedies hearing in the Department of Justice’s case against Google Search wrapped up this week. We have been posting summaries week by week:

Antitrust, Google, Tech Industry, Law, Government Regulations

18 points by xnx 14 days ago | 3 comments

If Google is forced to give up Chrome, what happens next? (theregister.com)
When Donald Trump entered the White House, I expect Google thought its worries were over. A million-dollar "donation" for the inaugural ball, some face time between Sundar Pichai and Trump, and President Joe Biden's pesky Department of Justice (DoJ) demanding Google divest itself of its Chrome web browser would all be forgotten.

Antitrust, Google, Chrome, Technology, Politics

6 points by CrankyBear 14 days ago | 0 comments

Apple: "millions to billions" lost without App Store commissions (arstechnica.com)
Apple is moving quickly to shut the external payments door opened by last week's ruling that the company willfully failed to comply with court orders regarding anticompetitive behavior.

Apple, Antitrust, App Store, Business, Law

12 points by LorenDB 14 days ago | 20 comments

Consumer Watchdog Halts Google Payment Supervision (bloomberg.com)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau discontinued its order designating the supervision of Alphabet Inc.’s Google Payment Corp., reversing a Biden-era decision to monitor the nonbank financial platform.

Financial Regulation, Google, Consumer Protection, Antitrust

5 points by JumpCrisscross 15 days ago | 1 comments

Meta faces lawsuit that could dismantle it (unionrayo.com)
Goodbye to the old Facebook - Zuckerberg admits he no longer connects family and friends, faces FTC lawsuit that could dismantle Meta

Meta, Lawsuits, Social Media, Antitrust

35 points by nreece 17 days ago | 7 comments

DoJ confirms it wants to break up Google ad business (arstechnica.com)
The advertising remedy trial will begin on September 22.

Antitrust, Google, Law, Advertising, Business

10 points by 1vuio0pswjnm7 19 days ago | 0 comments

Firefox could be doomed without Google search deal, says executive (theverge.com)
Firefox could be put out of business should a court implement all the Justice Department’s proposals to restrict Google’s search monopoly, an executive for the browser owner Mozilla testified Friday.

Firefox, Google, Antitrust, Business, Technology

6 points by Khaine 20 days ago | 3 comments

DOJ confirms it wants to break up Google's ad business (arstechnica.com)
The advertising remedy trial will begin on September 22.

Antitrust, Google, Advertising, Law

6 points by pseudolus 21 days ago | 0 comments

US asks judge to break up Google's ad tech business after requesting Chrome sale (theguardian.com)
Google on Friday faced a demand by the US government to break up its hugely profitable ad technology business. The request came after a judge found the tech giant was commanding an illegal monopoly for the second time in less than a year.

Antitrust, Google, Advertising, Technology, Law

11 points by howard941 21 days ago | 1 comments

Firefox could be doomed without Google search deal, says executive (theverge.com)
Firefox could be put out of business should a court implement all the Justice Department’s proposals to restrict Google’s search monopoly, an executive for the browser owner Mozilla testified Friday.

Firefox, Google, Antitrust, Business, Law

13 points by recvonline 21 days ago | 6 comments

Judge Rules Apple Violated Court Order on App Store Anti-Steering Provisions (daringfireball.net)
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers Rules, in Excoriating Decision, That Apple Violated Her 2021 Court Order Regarding App Store Anti-Steering Provisions

Apple, App Store, Lawsuits, Antitrust

14 points by stuartd 23 days ago | 1 comments

A judge just blew up Apple's control of the App Store (theverge.com)
The judge in Epic v. Apple has banned Apple from charging a commission on purchases made outside the App Store because of its ongoing anticompetitive behavior.

Legal, Apple, Antitrust, App Store, Business

52 points by TimCTRL 23 days ago | 18 comments

Is Chrome Even a Sellable Asset? (daringfireball.net)
There are two ways to consider a forced divestiture of Chrome by Google, as the U.S. Department of Justice has, for months now, been requesting after Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled that Google has illegally maintained its monopoly in web search. One is from a business perspective (which I believe is the only perspective considered by the DOJ). The other is from a technical perspective. I don’t think either makes any sense.

Google, Antitrust, Web Browsers, Monopolies

57 points by carrotsalad 24 days ago | 18 comments

All four major web browsers are about to lose 80% of their funding (medium.com)
Four major web browsers dominate the market: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple’s Safari. What most users don’t realize is that Google effectively bankrolls over 80% of the development for all of them. But this funding stream is under threat: the US Department of Justice is moving to force Google to cut off its competitors and divest from Chrome, a decision that will simultaneously cripple the development of every major browser.

Web Browsers, Google, Antitrust, Technology, Competition

639 points by dfabulich 25 days ago | 633 comments

Don't make Google sell Chrome (world.hey.com)
The web will be far worse off if Google is forced to sell Chrome, even if it's to atone for legitimate ad-market monopoly abuses.

Web Browsers, Google, Antitrust

18 points by Tomte 25 days ago | 20 comments

Mark Zuckerberg personally lost the Facebook antitrust case (pluralistic.net)
It's damned hard to prove an antitrust case: so often, the prosecution has to prove that the company intended to crush competition, and/or that they raised prices or reduced quality because they knew they didn't have to fear competitors.

Antitrust, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Law, Business

234 points by thefox 27 days ago | 99 comments

Jedi Blue (wikipedia.org)
Jedi Blue is an agreement between Alphabet and Meta Platforms that allegedly gave Facebook an illegal advantage in Google's ad auctions in exchange for Facebook's word that it would end its own ad service plans.

Antitrust, Competition, Google, Facebook, Advertising

7 points by ColinWright 29 days ago | 0 comments

Mark Zuckerberg says social media is over (newyorker.com)
During testimony at Meta’s antitrust trial, the Facebook founder’s argument was, in so many words, that platforms like his are not what they used to be.

Social Media, Meta, Antitrust

531 points by FinnLobsien 29 days ago | 923 comments

OpenAI says it would buy Chrome if Google is forced to sell (engadget.com)
Google is under the microscope following a court ruling last year that it has a monopoly over online search, but the future of its vast suite of digital services is still uncertain at this stage.

OpenAI, Google, Antitrust, Business, Tech

7 points by taubek 30 days ago | 2 comments

Google contract prevented Motorola from setting Perplexity as default assistant (bloomberg.com)
Google’s contract with Lenovo Group Ltd.’s Motorola blocked the smartphone maker from setting Perplexity AI as the default assistant on its new devices, an executive of the startup testified at the search giant’s antitrust trial.

Antitrust, Artificial Intelligence, Mobile Devices, Google, Lenovo

255 points by welpandthen 30 days ago | 196 comments

Google reveals sky-high Gemini usage numbers in antitrust case (arstechnica.com)
Google revealed in court that Gemini now sees 350 million monthly users.

Google, Antitrust, Artificial Intelligence, Usage Data

11 points by rntn 30 days ago | 14 comments

Break Google's Search Monopoly Without Breaking the Web (open-web-advocacy.org)
In late 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), in conjunction with state attorneys general representing 11 states, brought a landmark antitrust case against Google for unlawfully maintaining a monopoly in the general search engine market.

Antitrust, Google, Search Engines, Competition, Law

4 points by brycewray 30 days ago | 0 comments

OpenAI tells judge it would buy Chrome from Google (theverge.com)
If Google is forced to sell off Chrome, ChatGPT’s head of product told a judge today that OpenAI would be interested in buying the browser, Reuters reports.

OpenAI, Google, Chrome, Antitrust, Browser

12 points by 01-_- 30 days ago | 9 comments

Commission Finds Apple and Meta in Breach of the Digital Markets Act (europa.eu)

Antitrust, Apple, Meta, European Union

24 points by rbanffy 30 days ago | 5 comments

Apple and Meta fined millions for breaching EU law (yahoo.com)
Apple was fined 500 million euros ($570 million) on Wednesday and Meta 200 million euros, as European Union antitrust regulators handed out the first sanctions under landmark legislation aimed at curbing the power of Big Tech.

Antitrust, EU Regulation, Big Tech, Apple, Meta

447 points by Aldipower 30 days ago | 595 comments