Report from TechCrunch In Brief – The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened investigations of the mobile ecosystems run by Apple and Google under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer’s Act (DMCC) to determine if the two digital giants have...
German Court Appears Likely to Reject Apple’s Challenge to Special Antitrust Standard
Report from Bloomberg In Brief – Apple’s legal challenge to the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) designation that they are a digital company “of paramount significance on competition across markets” appears to face skeptical judges on the Federal Court of Justice in...
Mobile Device Location Data Broker Kochava Settles Privacy Class Action
Report from MediaPost In Brief – Kochava has reached a settlement in a private class action lawsuit that will require the data broker to make several major privacy changes. The agreement filed with US District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill requires the company to...
DoJ Sues to Block HPE – Juniper Networks Deal
Report from Bloomberg In Brief – In its first major merger action since the beginning of the second Donald Trump Administration, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has sued to block the $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)....
First EU AI Act Rules Come into Force Banning Unacceptable AI Uses
Report from TechCrunch In Brief – The first regulatory compliance deadline of the EU AI Act went into effect on February 2, 2025, with companies required to comply with the rules related to AI applications that are prohibited under the law except with very limited...
Google Faces Skeptical Judges in Appeal of Antitrust Loss to Epic Games
Report from Bloomberg In Brief – Lawyers for Google and Epic Games faced off in front of a panel of US Ninth District Court of Appeals in Google’s challenge of its antitrust loss to Epic Games and the subsequent remedies crafted by Federal Judge James Donato. A jury...
Apple Criticizes New EU DMA Regime that Allows iPhone Porn Apps
Report from The Verge In Brief – Apple reacted to the public introduction of Hot Tub, an iOS pornography app that will be available to iPhone users in the EU through the alternative app store AltStore PAL, by criticizing the European Commission’s regulatory decisions....
DeepSeek Blocked in Italy by Data Protection Authorities
Report from EuroNews In Brief – Italy’s data protection authority, the Garante, has ordered China-based chatbot phenom DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country after the company failed to address the regulator’s concerns over its privacy policy and data practices....
China’s Response to New Trump Tariffs Includes Threat to Google
Report from the New York Times In Brief – China has included an antitrust investigation of Google in its trade retaliation package responding to the United States’ new 10% across-the-board tariff on Chinese exports to the country. The announcement simply said that the...
UK Kicks Encryption Hornets’ Nest by Demanding Apple iCloud Backdoor
Report from the Washington Post In Brief – The UK Government has reportedly issued secret orders to Apple demanding that the company provide a backdoor for security authorities to access users’ encrypted iCloud data. The unprecedented demand, made in January, was...
Meta Will Face Lawsuit Over Ads Violating Arkansas Right to Publicity
Report from MediaPost In Brief – US District Judge Gregory Williams has ruled that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, now U.S. ambassador to Israel, can proceed with a lawsuit accusing Meta of allowing Facebook ads to falsely suggest he endorsed CBD gummies....
AI Companies Looking at Safety Collaboration within Antitrust Constraints
Report from CNBC In Brief – OpenAI has been talking with other artificial intelligence companies, including Anthropic and Google, about how they can work together to address safety concerns. Discussions reportedly began after Demis Hassabis, the chair of Google...
Leading Microsoft AI Executive Questions Basic Anthropic Training Protocol
Report from MediaPost In Brief – Mustafa Suleyman, a top Microsoft AI business leader, has released an essay warning of the dangers of training AI models to consider their own consciousness or welfare as if they were human. “AIs are not conscious,” Suleyman wrote,...
US Judge Releases Remedy Specifics in the Google AdTech Antitrust Case
Report from AdExchanger In Brief – Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema’s 106-page remedies order in the US government’s antitrust case against Google’s advertising technology business has been released publicly. Brinkema rejected the Justice Department’s call to force...
X Facing Irish Regulatory Probe Over Online Safety
Report from Silicon Republic In Brief – Ireland’s media regulator, the Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM), has launched its first investigation under the country’s Online Safety Code, scrutinizing social media platform X for its compliance with requirements designed to protect...
Platform Economy Insights produces a short email four times a week that reviews two top stories with concise analysis. It is the best way to keep on top of the news you should know. Sign up for this free email here.
