big tech

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DEI backlash: Stay up-to-date on the latest legal and corporate challenges

It’s clear that this year will be a turning point for DEI.

DEI backlash: Stay up-to-date on the latest legal and corporate challenges

Lina Khan says the FTC wants to be effective in its enforcement strategy, which is why it has been taking on lawsuits that “go up against some of the big…

FTC Chair Lina Khan tells TechCrunch the agency is pursuing the ‘mob bosses’ in Big Tech

Another week and another round of crazy cash injections and valuations emerged from the AI realm. DeepL, an AI language translation startup, raised $300 million on a $2 billion valuation;…

Big Tech companies are plowing money into AI startups, which could help them dodge antitrust concerns

If the decisions made by corporate boards of directors can indicate where a company wants to be focusing, Amazon’s board just made an interesting move. The company announced on Thursday…

Amazon, eyeing up AI, adds Andrew Ng to its board — ex-MTV exec McGrath to step down

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have written to the US Acting Secretary of Labor expressing concerns over the disproportionate impact tech layoffs could have on Black workers,

Black representatives in Congress voice concerns over impact of tech layoffs on minority workers

Which do you prefer: Regulators working to contain market power or a potential ceiling being set on exit values for the companies that you back?

Should VCs back the FTC suit against Amazon?

While Apple’s ascent to this milestone is notable, there’s been a greater reshuffling in the ranks of the biggest tech stocks.

As Apple reaches $3T, it’s time to shake up the Big Tech club

President Biden published an op-ed yesterday in the Wall Street Journal putting Big Tech on notice that his administration was working — in fact, has been working — to rein…

Biden’s call to ‘unite against big tech abuses’ sure sounds familiar

What do media layoffs and tech worries have in common? Fear about what’s ahead in coming quarters, especially as it relates to advertising revenues.

Just how bad is the Q1 ad market going to be?

Given the ever-changing state of the world’s economy this year, the information that Big Tech earnings provide is even more important than usual.

Big Tech falls short in the first salvos of the Q3 earnings cycle

Usually, the number of times a major policy issue receives bipartisan support is between none and zero. But in this case, each party has an axe to grind.

Platforms beware: Politics won’t save you from antitrust legislation

Microsoft is being called out for blocking users of the end-to-end encrypted email service Tutanota from registering an account with its cloud-based collaboration platform, Teams, if they try to do…

Tutanota cries antitrust foul over Microsoft Teams blocking sign-ups for its email users

Perhaps the real deciding line between Big Tech and the rest of the technology industry is the point at which advertising incomes become a material part of their revenues.

The advertising slowdown is dinging Big Tech

More antitrust scrutiny for Amazon in Europe: The U.K.’s antitrust watchdog has opened an investigation into Amazon’s marketplace on the same day Germany’s regulator has confirmed it can apply special…

Amazon faces more antitrust scrutiny in UK and Germany

The European Parliament has given a final stamp of approval to two major pieces of regulation which will update the EU’s rules for digital businesses. The Digital Markets Act (DMA)…

European parliament backs ‘historic’ reboot to EU’s digital rulebook

Last week I wrote about an AI startup that’s building technology that can alter, in real time, the accent of someone’s speech. But what if the AI goal instead is…

Speechmatics raises $62M for its inclusive approach to speech-to-text AI

Germany’s competition regulator is looking into possible abuses related to how Google operates its Maps product. It’s the latest proceeding the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) has opened against Google —…

Google Maps restrictions trigger competition scrutiny in Germany

The European Commission has just taken the wraps off a beefed up industry Code of Practice for tackling online disinformation across the EU. Signatories to the Code — who include…

EU unveils tougher industry Code to combat disinformation

A major privacy feature Apple launched last year, called App Tracking Transparency (ATT) — which requires third-party apps to request permission from iOS users to track their digital activity for…

Germany’s antitrust watchdog latest to probe Apple’s app privacy framework

Ofcom, the U.K.’s soon-to-be social media harms watchdog under incoming online safety legislation, has warned tech platforms that they are failing to take women’s safety seriously. Publishing new research (PDF)…

Social media giants are failing women, finds Ofcom

The U.K.’s competition watchdog has just announced another investigation into Google over potential antitrust abuses around adtech. This is the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) second probe of Google’s adtech…

UK finally opens antitrust probe of Google’s role in the adtech stack

The U.K. government has confirmed it will move forward on a major ex ante competition reform aimed at Big Tech, as it set out its priorities for the new parliamentary…

UK opts for slow reboot of Big Tech rules, pushes ahead on privacy ‘reforms’

Just over a year after launching a dedicated unit focused on digital markets inside the national competition watchdog, the UK government has put some meat on the bones of what…

UK’s Big Tech regulator ‘to boost switching, cut killer acquisitions’

The European Union’s flagship reform for tackling Big Tech platform power, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), will come into force in early 2023, Commission EVP Margrethe Vestager has said —…

EU’s new rules for Big Tech will come into force in Spring 2023, says Vestager

Facebook’s rebranded parent, Meta, has become the next tech giant to be confirmed as subject to a special competition abuse control regime in Germany, following a 2021 update to its…

Meta faces years of tougher antitrust oversight in Germany

UK-based Ravio reckons real-time data is the best way to arm businesses to win the global talent war. Its new-to-market compensation benchmarking tool lets users see how the compensation (wages…

Ravio is bringing real-time data to the talent fight

Kenya plans to double the digital service tax (DST) to 3% beginning July this year, as the government taps the growing online economy to increase its domestic revenues and narrow…

Tech firms face higher levies as Kenya plans to double digital service tax

Featured Article

How Europe has expanded its bid to disrupt Big Tech

The European Union’s co-legislators reached political agreement on a major reform of digital competition rules late yesterday, which will introduce up-front obligations and restrictions (literally a list of “dos and don’ts”) on the most powerful internet giants — enforced by the threat of substantial fines and other types of penalties…

How Europe has expanded its bid to disrupt Big Tech

In a formalization of an earlier Twitter-led push to try to exert influence over fast-forming European digital regulations, the social media firm has used its Twitter Spaces platform to host…

Twitter leads call for EU lawmakers to ‘think beyond Big Tech’

Apple has been fined again in the Netherlands over an antitrust order related to dating apps. The order requires it to allow local dating apps to be able to use…

Apple sends new offer to Dutch antitrust authority over dating apps payments, racks up 9th fine