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A federal judge has expanded on the remedies decided for the Department of Justice's antitrust case against Google, ruling in favor of putting a one-year limit on the contracts that make Google's search and AI services the default on devices, Bloomberg reports. Judge Amit Mehta's ruling on Friday means Google will have to renegotiate these contacts every year, which would create a fairer playing field for its competitors. The new details come after Mehta ruled in September that Google would not have to sell off Chrome, as the DOJ proposed at the end of 2024.
This all follows the ruling last fall that Google illegally maintained an internet search monopoly through actions including paying companies such as Apple to make its search engine the default on their devices and making exclusive deals around the distribution of services such as Search, Chrome and Gemini. Mehta's September ruling put an end to these exclusive agreements and stipulates that Google will have to share some of its search data with rivals to "narrow the scale gap" its actions have created.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/judge-puts-a-one-year-limit-on-googles-contracts-for-default-search-placement-215549
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The largest streaming network says it will purchase Warner Bros.' studios and streaming assets after winning a bidding war with Comcast and Paramount.
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The $83 billion deal gives the streamer a century's worth of prestige television and movies, from Batman movies to Game of Thrones. It also ends the streaming wars.
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AI services like Perplexity or OpenAI's SearchGPT could be search engine options in a future version of Safari, Bloomberg reports. The tentative plans were shared by Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of services, while on the stand for Google's ongoing search antitrust case. Cue was called to testify because of the deal Google and Apple have to keep Google Search as the default search engine on the iPhone.
Cue claims Apple has discussed a possible Safari-integration with Perplexity, but didn't share any definitive plans during his testimony. It's clear that he believes AI assistants will inevitably supplant traditional search engines, though. "Prior to AI, my feeling around this was, none of the others were valid choices," Cue said. "I think today there is much greater potential because there are new entrants attacking the problem in a different way."
Whatever AI search Apple ultimately adds likely won't be the default at first, according to Cue, but "there's enough money now, enough large players, that I don't see how it doesn't happen." There's some evidence to back up the idea that things are changing, too.
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The first two third-party European app stores to be announced offer different takes on how these stores might work: the first is a white-label service for enterprise app distribution, the second is an all-you-can-eat subscription deal.
The stores are on the cusp of being introduced now that Apple has been forced to open up to third party app stores and payment systems. It seems likely more such stores will soon open, and it's interesting these two seem willing to explore new app distribution business models.
For the enterprise: Mobivention
Initially available in Germany, the Mobivention App Marketplace wants to become a safe place from which to download apps for company employees, partners, and customers.
To read this article in full, please click here
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