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In today’s big story, a judge ruled on Google’s penalties for its online search monopoly.
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The big story
Google stays intact
Associated Press
Google is … feeling lucky?
A judge’s ruling on Google’s penalties for its online search monopoly didn’t leave the tech giant unscathed. Still, it largely avoided the severe punishments its prosecutor, the US government, was after.
So how was Google punished?
-Google can’t negotiate exclusive partnerships to be the default search engine. As a reminder, Google paid Apple $20 billion in 2022 alone to be Safari’s default engine.
-Google needs to share its search index and user-interaction data with competitors. Rivals will now have the benefit of training up their own models with some of the troves of data Google has collected.
-Google has to provide syndication services to competitors looking to establish their own search and ads business. However, it can charge them for it.
But it could have been a lot worse.
-The judge rejected the biggest penalty prosecutors were after: a forced sale of the Chrome browser or Android operating system.
-Google can also keep paying partners like Apple for distribution. The deals just can’t be exclusive.
-It doesn’t need to share its highly valuable ads data with anyone.
Don’t take my word for it, though. As always, the markets are the true judge. Alphabet’s stock rose as much as 8% in after-hours trading.
Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The ruling also came with a unique twist.
US District Judge Amit Mehta acknowledged that the fast-paced nature of tech, especially the recent rise of generative AI, had to be considered in the decision.
In fact, in a roundabout way, rivals like OpenAI might have actually saved Google from facing far worse consequences, writes BI’s Charles Rollet.
Depending on who you ask, generative AI is already eating into Google’s search business. So while Google has a monopoly now, that might not be the case going forward. The rise of chatbots like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude is reshaping the competitive landscape in search. Penalizing Google now could hamstring it at a critical inflection point for tech.
A significant gap still exists between a search giant like Google and up-and-coming chatbots. But Mehta acknowledged the AI startups could “end up being game changers.”
“Unlike the typical case where the court’s job is to resolve a dispute based on historic facts, here the court is asked to gaze into a crystal ball and look to the future,” Mehta wrote. “Not exactly a judge’s forte.”
3 things in markets
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
1. Summer’s over. Wall Street is leaving vacation mode and entering a historically weak month for the stock market. That’s coupled with a heavy load of economic data that’s incoming. Here’s what’s on investors’ radars this week. Meanwhile, investing pros shared four ways they’re placing their bets.
2. Tech stocks are having a rough start to the month. The Nasdaq 100 slid as much as 1.9% on the first trading day of September, with heavy hitters like Nvidia and Amazon suffering steep losses. Investors are grappling with three factors heading into September.
3. Hedge funds are on track for a strong year. Large funds, including $68 billion Citadel, saw positive returns in August, people close to the money managers told BI. Multistrategy hedge fund managers outside the big four are continue their strong year as global stock markets are on rise.
3 things in tech
Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI
1. Tesla has a long road to launching Full Self-Driving in Europe. The company has teased a rollout of its driver-assist software for nearly a year. But it faces what Elon Musk has called a “layer cake of bureaucracy”: European regulators are moving more slowly and have more testing requirements than their US counterparts.2
2. Cold brews, cryochambers, and baths with Paris Hilton. Carter Reum, who co-founded the VC firm M13 with his brother Courtney, is a big fan of intermittent fasting and cooking simple meals. He walked BI through his daily routine, which always ends by taking a bath with Paris Hilton, his wife, for our Power Hours series.
3. The battle of the LLMs. LMArena, a popular website where enthusiasts can evaluate AI models, recently blew up when Nano Banana went viral for churning out impressive images and photo edits. Now, LMArena has over 3 million monthly, according to CTO Wei-Lin Chiang. BI chatted with Chiang about the top AI models people are using, and more.
3 things in business
Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI
1. Welcome to real estate’s year of cold feet. Homebuyers are backing out of deals just before the finish line at a record rate. Buyers are growing skittish about the rising costs of home ownership, mortgage rates, and the job market. With more houses available and fewer buyers to compete with, current home buyers can afford to be picky — but that leverage won’t last forever.
2. MrBeast’s new venture: telecommunications. The world’s biggest YouTube creator is looking to start a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, per a leaked investor deck from early 2025 viewed by BI. MVNOs are a popular business strategy among celebrities like Ryan Reynolds, and the move is part of a larger push from Beast Industries to diversify MrBeast beyond media.
3. Meet Chloe Malle, Vogue’s new top editor. The speculation is over: Anna Wintour has named Malle to be the head of the publication’s editorial content. The 39-year-old has spent almost her entire career at Vogue, starting in 2011 as a social editor. Here’s what we know about her.
In other news
Tesla rejected 11 shareholder proposals on sustainability and accountability ahead of its annual meeting.Group Black is pivoting to target a wider audience after its plans to help Black-owned media fell short.WeWork cofounder describes ‘wallowing’ in guilt after leaving the company.Trump says AI-generated content is ‘a little bit scary.’
BlackRock shares the 3 main things it’s learned from a wild first half of 2025 in markets.
The Business Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York City. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. Akin Oyedele, deputy editor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York.
