US progressive groups and Senator Elizabeth Warren have called on the Department of Justice to investigate Nvidia for potential anti-competitive practices, citing the company’s dominant position in the AI chip market. Nvidia’s market value surged to $3 trillion this summer, driven by high demand for its advanced chips used in AI models. The groups, including Demand Progress, criticised Nvidia’s bundling of hardware and software, arguing that it restricts competition and stifles innovation.
The Department of Justice has been directed to oversee potential antitrust probes into Nvidia, while the Federal Trade Commission is investigating other tech giants like Microsoft and OpenAI. Nvidia maintains that it follows all regulations and supports a wide range of industries and innovators.
With approximately 80% of the AI chip market and nearly 100% of the market excluding cloud providers’ custom chips, Nvidia’s dominance is significant. Senator Warren has expressed concerns about the risks of a single company controlling the AI market. The Department of Justice has not commented on the case’s specifics, but antitrust officials are concerned about potential bottlenecks in the industry.
The European Commission has approved Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) acquisition of Juniper Networks without any conditions. The Commission determined that the merger would not pose significant competition issues within the European Economic Area (EEA). HPE, a provider of IT infrastructure and cloud solutions, and Juniper, which specialises in networking and security solutions, did not significantly overlap in their markets.
The Commission’s investigation covered several areas, including wireless network equipment, Ethernet switches, and data centre switches. It concluded that the merged entity would still face substantial competition from other major players and would need more market power to disrupt competitive dynamics. The Commission also found no risk of anti-competitive bundling practices due to the differing nature of the products offered by the two companies.
With no substantial competition concerns raised, the Commission cleared the transaction unconditionally. The Commission was notified of the merger on 27 June 2024, and the review was completed within the standard 25 working days. More details on the case can be accessed on the Commission’s competition website under case number M.11457.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) of the United States declared that Amazon will be held accountable for selling hazardous third-party products on its platform. It has further asked the company to take steps to inform consumers and ensure that they return or destroy such products. The directive encompasses 400,000 items that violate flammability standards, such as defective carbon monoxide detectors, unsafe hairdryers, and children’s sleepwear. In response, Amazon revealed its intention to contest the order in court.
The US agency stated that ‘Amazon failed to notify the public about these hazardous products and did not take adequate steps to encourage its customers to return or destroy them, thereby leaving consumers at substantial risk of injury’. The CPSC labelled Amazon as a ‘distributor’ of faulty products, as such products are stored and shipped by the company.
This is not a one-off incident for the company as previously, in 2021, the CPSC also sued Amazon, compelling them to recall numerous hazardous products sold on their platform. Subsequently, Amazon was forced to remove most of these items and refunded customers. Nevertheless, Amazon maintained that they provide logistics for independent sellers and are not distributors.
Britain’s competition regulator, the CNMC, has imposed a hefty fine of €413.2 million (US$448 million) on online reservation platform Booking.com. The fine, the largest ever levied by the CNMC, targets Booking.com’s dominant market position in Spain, where it holds a 70% to 90% share. The penalties stem from practices dating back to 2019.
The CNMC found Booking.com to be imposing unfair terms on hotels and stifling competition from other providers. This included a ban on hotels offering lower prices on their own websites compared to Booking.com’s listings, as well as the ability of Booking.com to unilaterally impose price discounts on hotels. Additionally, the platform mandated that hotels resolve disputes in Dutch courts.
Booking Holdings, Booking.com’s parent company, intends to appeal the fine. They argue that the issue falls under the remit of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act and express strong disagreement with the CNMC’s findings. Booking Holdings plans to challenge the decision in Spain’s high court.
The investigation was triggered by complaints lodged in 2021 by the Spanish Association of Hotel Managers and the Madrid Hotel Business Association. Another point of contention is Booking.com’s practice of offering benefits to hotels that generate higher fees, which critics argue unfairly restricts competition from alternative booking services.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is anticipated to receive unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, a leading networking gear maker. The acquisition, announced in January, highlights the industry’s urgency to innovate and develop new products in response to the surge in artificial intelligence-driven services.
The European Commission is set to decide on the deal by 1 August. Both HPE and Juniper have declined to comment on the matter. Sources suggest that HPE plans to emphasise the dominant market position of Cisco, Juniper’s main competitor, to mitigate any potential competition concerns from the EU.
In addition to the EU review, the deal is also under scrutiny by the UK’s antitrust authorities, with their decision expected by 14 August. The acquisition marks a significant move in the tech industry as companies strive to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Milan prosecutors are investigating an Italian unit of Amazon for suspected tax evasion. This new inquiry is separate from the recent multi-million euro seizure from another Amazon unit. Earlier this week, Italy’s tax police seized €121 million from Amazon as part of a different investigation into tax fraud and illegal labour practices.
The current investigation in Italy began in 2021 following routine checks by tax police in an area north of Milan. It focuses on tax rules concerning the trading of goods within Italy and internationally, particularly value added taxes and customs duties. The potential size of the tax evasion has not yet been determined.
Over the past few years, Italian tax authorities and tax police in Monza, near Milan, have been conducting checks on Amazon’s accounts in Italy. Amazon has not yet commented on the ongoing investigation.
Authorities are scrutinising Amazon’s compliance with tax regulations as part of their broader efforts to tackle tax evasion. This investigation highlights the increasing focus on multinational companies’ tax practices in Italy.
LinkedIn has agreed to a $6.625 million settlement to resolve a proposed class action accusing the company of inflating ad metrics, leading to overcharges for advertisers. The preliminary settlement, filed in San Jose, California federal court, awaits approval by US Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen. Although LinkedIn denies any wrongdoing, it has committed to hiring an outside auditor for two years to review its ad metrics.
The lawsuit originated from allegations by advertisers, including TopDevz of Sacramento and Noirefy of Chicago, who claimed LinkedIn counted video ad views even when the videos played off-screen as users scrolled past. This issue came to light after LinkedIn disclosed in November 2020 that software bugs had led to over 418,000 overcharges, mostly under $25. LinkedIn subsequently provided credits to nearly all affected advertisers.
The settlement covers US advertisers who purchased ads on LinkedIn from January 2015 to May 2023. LinkedIn stated that the settlement underscores its commitment to ad integrity and maintaining a trusted platform for users and customers. The advertisers’ lawyers may seek up to 25% of the settlement amount, approximately $1.656 million, for legal fees.
Judge van Keulen had previously dismissed the lawsuit in December 2021, but the advertisers appealed, and the appeal was put on hold for mediation. The case, known as In re LinkedIn Advertising Metrics Litigation, is being handled in the US District Court, Northern District of California.
Bechtle has secured a significant framework agreement with the German government to provide up to 300,000 iPhones and iPads, all equipped with approved Apple security software. The contract, valued at €770 million ($835.22 million), will run until the end of 2027, according to an announcement on Thursday.
This deal aligns with Germany’s recent IT security law aimed at restricting untrustworthy suppliers and ensuring robust security measures for government officials. Bechtle’s partnership with Apple underscores the importance of reliable technology and security in government operations.
The agreement comes some time after Apple’s legal challenges in Germany, including an injunction from a German court over a patent case back in 2018. Despite these hurdles, the collaboration with Bechtle demonstrates Apple’s continued commitment to providing secure and trusted devices for essential functions within the public sector.
Meta Platforms is facing its first EU antitrust fine for linking its Marketplace service with Facebook. The European Commission is expected to issue the fine within a few weeks, following an accusation over a year and a half ago that the company gave its classified ads service an unfair advantage by bundling it with Facebook.
Allegations include Meta abusing its dominance by imposing unfair trading conditions on competing classified ad services advertising on Facebook and Instagram. The potential fine could reach as much as $13.4 billion, or 10% of Meta’s 2023 global revenue, although such high fines are rarely imposed.
A decision is likely to come in September or October, before EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager leaves office in November. Meta has reiterated its stance, claiming the European Commission’s allegations are baseless and stating its product innovation is pro-consumer and pro-competitive.
In a separate development, Meta has been charged by the Commission for not complying with new tech rules due to its pay or consent advertising model launched last November. Efforts to settle the investigation by limiting the use of competitors’ advertising data for Marketplace were previously rejected by the EU but accepted by the UK regulator.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), UK’s financial regulatory body, has fined CB Payments Limited (CPBL), a Coinbase subsidiary, £3.5 million ($4.5 million) for inadequate anti-money laundering controls, marking it FCA’s first action against a crypto trading firm.
CBPL is a platform for trading cryptoassets within Coinbase Group and the FCA stated how after an FCA visit in October 2020, it voluntarily agreed to enhance its financial crime controls. The agreement required CBPL to halt accepting new high-risk customers until the issue was resolved. Nevertheless, the company continued providing e-money services to 13,416 such customers, with nearly a third of them depositing $24.9 million. The fund in turn facilitated various cryptoasset transactions through other Coinbase entities, amounting to approximately $226 million in total. The FCA reported that this repeated breaches of the voluntary agreement went undetected for about two years.
Despite these breaches, CBPL agreed to a resolution, receiving a 30% reduction on its fine—lowering it from £5 million to £3.5 million. Coinbase, for its part, reiterated its commitment to working with top financial regulators like the FCA to ensure their platform remains compliant, secure, and trusted by customers.
