Antitrust’s State of Prey: The Hawks Go Local
For antitrust doves—those of us who think antitrust works best with a restrained approach to policing competition—the U.S. midterm results look, at first glance, like a triumph for the hawks. Democrats have won control of both chambers of Congress, with at least 54 Senate seats and potentially their largest House majority in nearly two decades. ... Antitrust’s State of Prey: The Hawks Go Local
AI Is Picking the Locks on Europe’s Gatekeeper Rules
Big Tech is spending a fortune to secure a future that competition regulators seem to think it already owns. Investors aren’t so sure. They’re losing patience with the industry’s artificial intelligence (AI) bill—and questioning what all that spending will buy. Alphabet shares sank more than 12% last Thursday—the company’s worst trading day on record—after both ... AI Is Picking the Locks on Europe’s Gatekeeper Rules
Every Click You Make: Article 6(5)’s Search for a Limiting Principle
When does a “directions” button become a competition-law violation? When it points to Google Maps, according to the European Commission. A law meant to police search rankings is becoming a license to police the whole page. On July 23, the Commission fined Alphabet €460 million for favoring nine of its own services on Google’s search ... Every Click You Make: Article 6(5)’s Search for a Limiting Principle
We Measured Europe’s Browser Revolution. Bring a Magnifying Glass.
Europe’s browser revolution appears to have left most browsers exactly where it found them. The European Commission is celebrating a “surge” in alternatives. The browsing data suggest a ripple. In April, the Commission reviewed the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and pronounced it “fit for purpose.” “Alternative browsers and search engines are being increasingly chosen by ... We Measured Europe’s Browser Revolution. Bring a Magnifying Glass.
Move Slow and Collude: The Antitrust Problem With Pacing AI
The frontier AI race’s latest safety proposal would have the leading contenders agree on how fast to run. Antitrust law has a less flattering name for that arrangement: a cartel. That is the central problem with the “pacing the frontier” plan that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei unveiled last weekend, and that fellow AI executives Sam ... Move Slow and Collude: The Antitrust Problem With Pacing AI
Rate Expectations: Apple and the New Price Regulators
Competition policy is supposed to protect the competitive process, not do double-duty as price regulation. Yet the line between the two appears to be blurring in both a U.S. antitrust case and the European Union’s enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). On Aug. 14, after years of litigation with Epic Games, Apple submitted a ... Rate Expectations: Apple and the New Price Regulators
From Google Fines to French Wine: The Trade Case Against the DMA
Brussels has spent two years testing how much regulatory pain Washington will tolerate before reaching for the tariff book. President Donald Trump may have supplied the answer. His threatened Section 301 investigation—a process that allows the United States to retaliate against foreign practices that unfairly burden U.S. commerce—could turn Europe’s digital rulebook into a transatlantic ... From Google Fines to French Wine: The Trade Case Against the DMA
Europe’s Privacy Paradox: Fort Knox for Search Data, a Checkbox for Your Phone
Brussels has developed a curious theory of digital privacy. Anonymous search queries need audits, screening, and a security cordon. Your messages, microphone, and screen can make do with a checkbox. That is the logic running through two decisions the European Commission adopted last week involving the same company, under the same law, on the same ... Europe’s Privacy Paradox: Fort Knox for Search Data, a Checkbox for Your Phone
The DMA’s Cloud-Cuckoo Land
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) was built to police digital gatekeepers. The European Commission now wants to test how far that metaphor can stretch—past app stores, social networks, and marketplaces, and into the server racks. The Commission has reached the preliminary view that Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure should be designated as gatekeepers ... The DMA’s Cloud-Cuckoo Land
Act First, Learn Later: AI Antitrust and the Error Costs of Regulation at Machine Speed
Competition enforcers appear to have discovered their own version of artificial intelligence: act first, learn later. In the span of a week, agencies across four continents moved to reshape how AI products are built, distributed, and integrated—mostly before anyone has shown, in a final appealable decision, that the challenged conduct harms competition. Last week, a ... Act First, Learn Later: AI Antitrust and the Error Costs of Regulation at Machine Speed
Brussels’ AI Catch-22: Siri, Define ‘Choice’
Did Apple jump, or was it pushed? That is the question Brussels would rather not answer after Apple announced that its new Siri AI features will not ship on iPhones and iPads in the European Union. The European Commission says Apple made a free choice. Apple’s actual choice was between opening the iPhone in ways ... Brussels’ AI Catch-22: Siri, Define ‘Choice’
The European Commission’s ‘Six-Seven’ Theory of Interoperability
If you have been near anyone under the age of 15 in the past year, you may have heard the phrase “six seven” shouted with great conviction and no discernible content. It usually comes with a hand gesture. It means, as best anyone can tell, absolutely nothing. That is the joke: a number pair masquerading ... The European Commission’s ‘Six-Seven’ Theory of Interoperability
