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Source: AFP
Shares successful Google genitor Alphabet plunged much than 8 percent connected Wednesday aft Apple enforcement Eddy Cue testified successful national tribunal that Google's hunt postulation connected Apple devices declined past period for the archetypal clip successful implicit 2 decades.
Cue, Apple's elder vice president of services, told the Washington antitrust proceedings that Google was losing crushed to AI alternatives similar ChatGPT and Perplexity.
His revelation that this diminution "has ne'er happened successful 22 years" sent shockwaves done Wall Street, wiping much than $170 cardinal from Google's marketplace capitalization successful a azygous trading session.
The grounds came during a pivotal proceedings wherever District Judge Amit Mehta volition find remedies for Google's antecedently ruled amerciable hunt monopoly.
The case, ongoing since 2020, has exposed Google's signifier of paying Apple tens of billions dollars annually to stay the default hunt motor connected Safari browsers and Apple smartphones.
Investors were further unsettled erstwhile Cue suggested Apple mightiness soon connection AI alternatives arsenic default hunt options connected its devices, heightening concerns that Google's advertizing gross could look superior threats from AI competitors.
With the three-week proceedings acceptable to reason Friday, authorities attorneys are pushing Judge Mehta to bid Google to divest its Chrome browser.
They reason that AI technologies volition lone fortify Google's dominance by leveraging its immense information resources crossed products similar Maps, YouTube, and Chrome to stifle competition.
However, Cue's grounds bolstered Google's defence that AI is already disrupting its hunt dominance, with chatbots present posing morganatic threats to its business model.
'Losing sleep'
When Judge Mehta issues his ruling successful August, helium could extremity Google's default hunt agreements with Apple and others -- a imaginable that Cue told the tribunal helium was "losing sleep" over, with imaginable gross losses impacting Apple's merchandise improvement and operating strategy investment.
Alternatively, Mehta mightiness bid Google to stock its hunt information with competitors, which CEO Sundar Pichai warned would efficaciously magnitude to a "de facto divestiture of search."
As a antagonistic offer, Google proposes a much constricted remedy that would let it to proceed paying for default placement of its hunt engine, but with an yearly renegotiations and greater state for smartphone manufacturers to take which Google apps to instal connected their devices.
The Google lawsuit represents conscionable 1 of 5 large tech antitrust actions presently pursued by the US government, with Meta facing akin scrutiny successful the aforesaid courthouse.
Google precocious mislaid a abstracted lawsuit regarding its advertisement technology concern and whitethorn look further divestitures, portion Apple and Amazon are besides expected to face antitrust challenges successful US courts.
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Source: AFP
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