The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have reached a deal that allows them to proceed with antitrust investigations into the dominant roles that Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia play in the artificial intelligence industry. The Justice Department will take the lead in investigating Nvidia, while the FTC will examine the conduct of OpenAI and Microsoft. A similar deal in 2019 resulted in Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta being sued on claims that they violated anti-monopoly laws.

EU regulators have charged Microsoft with breaking antitrust rules by bundling its Teams video conferencing software with a suite of other productivity tools, giving it an unfair advantage over rivals. Businesses essentially had little choice but to use Teams if they wanted other software made by Microsoft. Competitors also faced challenges in making their services work with other Microsoft software. Microsoft says it has already taken steps to resolve the dispute, having unbundled Teams from other Office products last year.

A US judge ruled that Google illegally monopolized the search market by paying billions to make its search engine the default on smartphones and web browsers, effectively blocking competitors. This decision is the US government's first major antitrust case win against a US tech giant in over two decades. Judge Amit Mehta found that Google's exclusive deals with companies like Apple and Samsung foreclosed competition and enabled the company to raise advertising prices without consequence.

The US v. Google antitrust ruling revealed that Apple considers Bing an inferior search engine and wouldn't switch to it, even for a huge payment. The judge declared that TikTok and other social media platforms are not competitors to Google Search because they lack the ability to index the entire web. The ruling further stated that AI search technology is not yet advanced enough to replace traditional search engine methods - this was used to justify the final call that Google is a monopoly.

The Department of Justice is considering breaking up Alphabet following a ruling that found the company monopolized the online search market. The most likely units for divestment are the Android operating system and Chrome web browser. Less severe options include forcing Google to share more data with competitors and measures to prevent it from gaining an unfair advantage in AI products. The government will likely see a ban on the type of exclusive contracts that were at the center of the case.

The US Department of Justice has sent subpoenas to Nvidia and other companies seeking evidence that the chipmaker violated antitrust laws. Antitrust officials are concerned that Nvidia is making it harder to switch to other suppliers and penalizing buyers that don't exclusively use its artificial intelligence chips. Nvidia claims that its market dominance stems from the quality of its products. The company prioritizes customers who can make use of its products in ready-to-go data centers as soon as they're provided to prevent stockpiling and to speed up the broader adoption of AI.

Europe's top court ruled that Apple must pay 13 billion euros and Google 2.4 billion euros in fines, marking the end of long-standing battles with the EU. Apple's case, related to tax advantages in Ireland, comes just after its iPhone 16 launch. Google faced antitrust fines over its shopping comparison tool, which the EU found stifled competition from smaller rivals.

Experts claim Google's monopolistic practices inflate advertising fees, which are passed on to consumers, raising prices for everyday goods. The antitrust trial illustrates how Google's dominance stifles competition, reduces innovation, and results in lower-quality ads targeting consumers with irrelevant products. A breakup could promote alternative ad models that enhance privacy and improve ad quality, benefiting both consumers and publishers.