Organized Money Antitrust Woodstock: Google and Meta Go to Court
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Apr 24, 2025 Laurel Kilgore, an attorney with the American Economic Liberties Project, and Brendan Benedict, an antitrust attorney, dive into high-stakes antitrust trials against Google and Meta. They discuss Google's potential punishment for monopolizing search and the government's push to divest Chrome. Brendan shares insights from the Meta trial, examining how the company's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp may have stifled competition. The conversation highlights the interplay of law and corporate power amid the current political climate.
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Google's Contractual Monopoly Power
- Google gained monopoly power by exclusive contracts with distributors like Apple, locking in its search engine on devices.
- This prevented rivals from accessing crucial data to improve their search quality and compete effectively.
Meta's Acquisition Monopoly Strategy
- Meta (Facebook) maintains monopoly by buying potential competitors like Instagram and WhatsApp instead of building to compete.
- This acquisition strategy reduced actual competition in personal social networking despite new apps like TikTok.
AI's Future Hinges on Search Access
- Combining language models with real-time search improves AI chatbot accuracy and reduces hallucinations.
- Google controlling search data could monopolize advanced AI tools, stifling competition in AI innovation.