#antitrust-probe

#antitrust-probe

"The current administration has signaled that it is very pro-business and wants to make it as easy as possible for these new fintech business models such as prediction markets and crypto to operate."

Companies across sectors such as banking, industry, and technology report that their digital infrastructure is closely intertwined with American software and cloud platforms. Many organizations rely on services from large American suppliers for office software, cloud storage, and AI applications. According to them, this dependence cannot be reduced quickly without operational disruptions.

Consumers have grown so weary of AI-generated content and straight-up slop, they're taking extra time to find work made by real people. And some brands are going even further. Instead of airbrushing flaws, they're celebrating them - even going so far as to seek out imperfections in the influencer marketing deals they're planning. The dirty countertop or overflowing garbage can in the background is no longer grounds for a reshoot; it's a way to let viewers know that what they're watching is, well, real.

But for many hotels, visibility-and sometimes survival-comes at the expense of profits. That dynamic is now at the heart of Beijing's antitrust probe. Regulators allege Trip.com is abusing its market position, with analysts citing deflation across the sector as the government's main concern. Interviews with lodging operators, industry groups and travel consultants describe a system where constant price-cutting and opaque policies are eroding profitability, even as demand rebounds.

The crunch moment in Google's antitrust battles with the Justice Department over its ad tech stack looms ever closer, with Justice Leonie Brinkema expected to issue her remedies ruling by the close of Q1. While these deliberations take place in the chambers of a courtroom in the Eastern District of Virginia, developments elsewhere underscore the political undercurrents at play, namely the push to limit Big Tech's power.

Notice that Google doesn't refute the allegations. The exact details of the EU investigation haven't been reported, but Google is no doubt still feeling burned after evidence surfaced in the DOJ's 2023 search antitrust trial about its opaque search ad pricing. Jerry Dischler, then GM and VP of Google Ads, testified that Google would increase ad prices by up to 10% when it needed to meet investor revenue expectations. He jokingly referred to the practice as "shaking the couch cushions."

The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it will appeal the November ruling in favor of Meta in its antitrust case against the social media giant. The FTC said it continues to allege that, for more than a decade, Meta Platforms Inc. has "illegally maintained a monopoly" in social networking through anticompetitive conduct "by buying the significant competitive threats it identified in Instagram and WhatsApp."

Gail Slater, the top antitrust enforcer at the Justice Department, announced Thursday that she has left her post, just weeks before the agency's next major tech monopoly trial against entertainment giant Live Nation is set to begin. "It is with great sadness and abiding hope that I leave my role as AAG for Antitrust today," Slater posted from her personal X account. Slater thanked the staff of the Antitrust Division and called the role "the honor of a lifetime." In a statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi thanked Slater for her service, but did not directly address questions about what precipitated her departure or who would take over as the acting leader of the Division.

Because Meta is a "gatekeeper" of a large platform according to the Digital Markets Act, it must allow integrations with WhatsApp. Currently, the Meta AI chatbot has an advantage within WhatsApp. It is a separate button within the application just above the shortcut key for writing a message. The European Commission wants to change this. It seems that the European government agency is aiming for a solution similar to what once applied to internet browsers on Windows: a selection screen.