Amazon can finally close the book on a long-running state aid saga in the European Union. The Commission confirmed Thursday it’s shuttered an investigation into whether Luxembourg, the Member State where Amazon has its EU HQ, had granted it “selective tax advantages.” The upshot is Amazon has no unpaid taxes to pay. The case dates […]
EU ends Amazon state aid case with no back taxes in its basket Read More »
The FTC has launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft, according to multiple reports that corroborate earlier reporting by the Financial Times. The agency is said to be looking into whether Microsoft violated antitrust law in multiple segments of its business, including its public cloud, AI, and cybersecurity product lines. Of particular interest to the FTC
FTC reportedly opens antitrust investigation into Microsoft Read More »
With Elon Musk playing such a high-profile role in Donald Trump’s transition team, Musk’s buddies, many of them Silicon Valley venture capitalists, are reportedly being tapped to help out. For instance, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, and in particular co-founder Marc Andreessen, is repeatedly being mentioned. He, along with Antonio Gracias and Joe Lonsdale, are reportedly
Europe must get much better at scaling startups. That’s the prognosis of the European Union’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, who’s on the cusp of taking up her second five-year term steering the bloc of some 449 million people — with a December 1 start date now locked in. Giving a speech to the European
Scaling startups is top priority as EU reboots its top team Read More »
The European Union’s outgoing competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, made a name for herself with headline-grabbing enforcements against Big Tech. But in a New York Times exit interview, as she approaches the end of her term, she sounds regretful at not having gone faster and harder against the likes of Apple and Google. She summarized her
EU’s outgoing antitrust chief regrets not moving faster & breaking Big Tech’s grip Read More »
Brazil’s antitrust regulator Cade has ruled that Apple must lift restrictions on in-app purchases within 20 days, Reuters reports. Otherwise, if the iPhone maker doesn’t comply, it faces fines of $43,000 per day. This decision is the result of a complaint filed by e-commerce merchant Mercado Libre in 2022. If you’ve been following recent changes
Apple ordered to open up in-app purchases in Brazil Read More »
Google has announced it’s making more changes to how it displays search results in the European Union in response to continued complaints that it’s failing to comply with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). This will include what it bills as a “short test” of plain “blue link” style search results for hotel queries in
The U.S. Department of Commerce confirmed on Tuesday it has awarded $7.865 billion to chip giant Intel under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, a federal statute signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022 to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The funding will go toward manufacture and advanced packaging (techniques to assemble and integrate
California is committed to zero-emission vehicles, even if the federal mood shifts. The state’s governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said Monday that if the incoming Trump administration cuts the $7,500 EV tax credit, he will propose rebates for eligible residents who buy electric vehicles. “We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future – we’re
California will offer EV rebates if Trump kills federal tax credits Read More »
The U.K. is seeking collaboration for a new AI security research lab that’s designed to counter Russia and other hostile states in what it dubs the “new AI arms race.” While the U.K. government has launched numerous funding initiatives in the past to support cybersecurity projects, the rise of AI-fueled nation-state attacks, specifically, is the
