 Technology |
Technology |
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Google, DOJ return for closing arguments |
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Google will present closing arguments Thursday and Friday in the government's case alleging the tech giant has illegally maintained and operated a monopoly in the online search market. |
The closing arguments will bring Google and the DOJ back to U.S. District Court after concluding a 10-week trial in November that focused on the ways Google has maintained its dominance in the market. A central component of the allegations brought by the DOJ, along with a coalition of state attorneys general, centers on agreements Google has reached with partners, such as Apple, to be the default search engine on devices. That debate will likely emerge as a prominent point in the closing arguments. Google has pushed back strongly on allegations of anticompetitive behavior through the agreements. Google's main defense is that its search engine is better, which is how it maintains its dominance and secures agreements with partners to be the default service. "We are working very, very hard; for any given query we provide the best experience," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said during his testimony in October. "That's always been our true north." But the DOJ's closing arguments will likely highlight how the government believes Google failed to explain why the company paid to secure the default agreements. During the trial, it was revealed that Google paid $26 billion in 2021 to secure its position as a default search engine on mobile phones and web browsers. Read more in a full report at TheHill.com. |
Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter, we're Rebecca Klar and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. |
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future: |
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UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty took fire from both sides of the aisle Wednesday during his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of his company. Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) made it clear straight out of the gate that he blamed Witty’s leadership for the cyberattack, which caused widespread disruptions to the health care sector. “The failures … |
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| Google was hit with a worldwide outage impacting thousands of users Wednesday morning. According to Down Detector, more than 1,000 reports of Google's services being down came in around 10:49 a.m. EDT. The most reported problem was using the search engine and website. Based on the tracker's map, users in the United States were affected most in Seattle, Denver and New York City. The Daily Mail reported that users in the United … |
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Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) are leading a group of bipartisan senators reintroducing a bill that would limit kids' social media use by setting a minimum age for users and restricting access to the sites in schools. Schatz originally introduced a version of the legislation, called the Kids Off Social Media Act, in spring 2023. It would set the minimum age for online social media users to 13 years old, … |
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News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics: |
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Influential group plots AI plans for Trump win |
A group that was an influential lobbying force in the forced sale or ban of TikTok bill that passed is planning an executive order for a potential second Trump presidency that would undo President Biden's rules on artificial intelligence (AI) and could benefit many people in the group by putting government money into AI grants and contracts, The Washington Post reported. |
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Layoffs on Tesla charger team sows uncertainty |
Tesla has laid off about 500 workers on the team responsible for building its electric vehicle charging stations, raising questions about deals the company struck with several major automakers last year to use its charging stations, The New York Times reported. |
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Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: |
- The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Communication, Media, and Broadband will hold a hearing on "The Future of Broadband Affordability" on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.
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Branch out with other reads on The Hill: |
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Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools |
AP Technology Writer (AP) — Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don’t see — on their feeds? A lawsuit filed against Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is arguing that a federal law often used to shield internet companies from liability also allows people to use … |
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Two key stories on The Hill right now: |
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Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said Wednesday he's ready for the "chaos" that has plagued the House for much of 2023 and 2024 to end … Read more |
| Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday he plans to sever diplomatic ties with Israel over the Middle Eastern country's conduct in its war … Read more |
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Opinion related to tech submitted to The Hill: |
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! |
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