Google and the DOJ make their final arguments in the ad tech monopoly case

Google and the Department of Justice met one final time in an Alexandria, Virginia courtroom to debate the future of Google’s online ad tech juggernaut. Over about three hours of closing arguments, attorneys for each side delivered their last arguments before US District Court judge Leonie Brinkema, who is expected to rule on it by…

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ChatGPT Search is not OpenAI’s ‘Google killer’ yet

Last week, OpenAI released its highly anticipated search product, ChatGPT Search, to take on Google. The industry has been bracing for this moment for months, prompting Google to inject AI-generated answers into its core product earlier this year, and producing some embarrassing hallucinations in the process. That mishap led many people to believe that OpenAI’s…

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Google accused of violating labor law for asking workers to ‘refrain’ from talking about antitrust case

The Alphabet Workers Union filed a charge against Google with the National Labor Relations Board after Google management asked workers to “refrain” from talking about its ongoing Search antitrust case. The union charges that Google issued an “overly broad directive” on discussing the case to employees, according to a copy of the charge filed in…

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Eric Schmidt’s SandboxAQ aims for $5B valuation for its AI/quantum Google moonshot

VCs are spending gobs of money on AI startups — especially those run by big names in tech — so SandboxAQ is putting its hand out again, even though it raised a whopping $500 million in early 2023. The spinout from Google parent company Alphabet is reportedly seeking to raise another round that would value…

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Epic judge lets Google keep its Android app store closed to competitors — for now

Google just netted a small but key victory in its Epic legal battle. Last week, the company asked Judge James Donato to press pause on his November 1st deadline to drastically alter its Android app store rules. Today, he did just that, Epic and Google confirm to The Verge, granting Google a temporary administrative stay…

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Here are the hottest product announcements from Apple, Google, Microsoft and others so far in 2024

If you love gadgets and gizmos, this year’s product conferences have been right up your alley. We’ve poked through the many product announcements made so far this year by the biggest tech companies and trade shows to create a list of what we think are the most important, or the most interesting, reveals. So far…

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How Google got away with charging publishers more than anyone else

For years, Google took the same 20 percent commission for ad transactions that ran through its platform, even though it was higher than what any other industry player charged. Executives privately worried the fee was difficult to defend. Now, the Justice Department argues it’s a key sign of Google’s monopoly over online ads. Google’s so-called…

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