Technology

The Big Story

Google avoids ad tech breakup

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Google does not have to break up its advertising technology business after finding last year that the search giant held an illegal monopoly over the industry.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request to force Google to sell off its AdX exchange business, which connects publishers selling ad space online to advertisers.

She also declined to require the company to open-source the technology behind DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), its publisher-side platform, or potentially divest the business.

Brinkema accepted “most of the parties’ proposed behavioral remedies, as modified by this Court.” However, the specifics remain under seal in the judge’s opinion.

“We’re very pleased the Court rejected the DOJ’s proposal to break apart tools that help small businesses reach new customers and grow,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said in a statement.

A DOJ spokesperson said in a statement that the antitrust division is “pleased that the court ordered substantial relief” in the case.

“We are one step closer to restoring competition and bringing relief for the American people in online advertising markets,” they added. “The Department is evaluating appropriate next steps.”

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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Essential Reads

How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:

Lutnick claims that data centers, known for water consumption, ‘don’t use water’

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed Wednesday that data centers “don’t use water” despite the facilities’ significant water use raising concerns for communities that may host them. In an interview with CNBC, Lutnick said, “One of my favorite things is when people talk about data centers using water. The No. 1 product in America that uses water is cattle.” “I mean, data centers don’t use water,” he added. “This …

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New Jersey asks Supreme Court to review prediction market dispute

New Jersey asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to weigh in on a growing legal battle between prediction markets and states over who has the authority to regulate the platforms. It marks the first time that the dispute, which has resulted in conflicting decisions at the appellate level, has been raised to the justices. “Companies like Kalshi claim to offer legal sports betting in all 50 States, but they refuse to follow the …

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OpenAI: New model needs more safety measures before launch

OpenAI’s forthcoming artificial intelligence model Astra is the company’s first to meet its “critical cybersecurity capability” threshold and will require stronger safeguards before release, the AI firm said Tuesday. In a blog post, OpenAI said Astra can find and exploit previously unknown security flaws across “many well-protected systems” without a human prompt to do so. It is the company’s …

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Trump admin backs OpenAI ‘fair use’ argument in suit from New York Times

President Trump’s administration is signaling support of OpenAI as it defends itself from a lawsuit brought by The New York Times over fair use of the outlet’s content. The Times sued OpenAI in 2023 over the use of its journalism to train its systems and popular chatbots, which are used by millions of people across the country for work, business and entertainment. In a new filing this week, the Trump administration …

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The Refresh

News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:

Mamdani imposes one-year ban on AI for most NYC students (Reuters)
Uber to cut 10 percent of workforce in bid to move 'simpler and faster' (CNBC)

Just In

AI advocacy group calls for Chip Security Act in NDAA

In a letter to leadership on the House and Senate Armed Services committees, the nonprofit Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI) called on lawmakers to secure the passage of the Chip Security Act in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), citing a report alleging Russia is using American-made chips for the country's autonomous drones.

The letter, sent Tuesday, argued the reports around Moscow emphasize the need for the Chip Security Act, which requires the Department of Commerce to establish chip security mechanisms for advanced chips exported around the world.

"These measures would provide the U.S. government with greater visibility into whether restricted chips are being smuggled abroad and strengthen its ability to identify and disrupt diversion networks," Rachel Hovde, policy director for ARI, wrote.

It followed a report from The New York Times last week, in which Ukrainian officials alleged Russia is using Nvidia's miniature computer in its fully autonomous AI-guided drones. Nvidia told the Times that the Jetson Orion computers were inexpensive models intended for civilian robotics, students, and developers.

The U.S. government restricts exports of items to Russia for military use, and Nvidia said the line of computers was not sold in Russia, but in resale markets, the Times reported.

"The United States leads the world in the design of advanced AI chips. We should not allow that technological advantage to be turned against us or our allies," the letter wrote. "The recent evidence from Russia demonstrates that this threat is no longer theoretical. Congress has an opportunity to address this vulnerability now."

The Chip Security Act was included in the manager's amendment to the NDAA, but the final bill has not yet passed the upper chamber.

In Other News

Branch out with other reads on The Hill:

Apple Maps changes Lake Ontario name after Trump request

Apple on Tuesday changed the name of Lake Ontario on the web version of its Maps app to “Lake America,” after President Trump directly contacted the tech giant for an update in accordance with his recent executive order. The company said U.S. users will now find “Lake America” on their maps, following the change in the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), Reuters reported. Canadian users …

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