A week after a judge ruled the tech giant illegally monopolized the online search market, the US Department of Justice is considering options that include breaking up Alphabet’s Google, worth some $2tn, according to reports from the New York Times and Bloomberg News.Divesting the Android operating system was one of the remedies most frequently discussed by justice department attorneys, the reports said.Officials were also considering trying to force a possible sale of AdWords, Google’s search ad program, an ...

Amazon has argued the country’s top labor watchdog is violating the constitution as the company fights to dismiss unfair labor practice charges, leaning on a recent conservative US supreme court ruling.In a filing last month, attorneys representing the technology giant pushed back against a complaint issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after two Georgia workers alleged that they faced retaliation, surveillance and interrogation after exercising their right to organize.The workers, based at t ...

Group 1 - Apple has changed its policy in the European Union to allow developers to communicate with customers outside its App Store after being charged for breaching tech rules [1] - Developers can now promote offers available anywhere from within their app, not just on their own website [1] - Apple will introduce two new fees: a 5% acquisition fee for new users and a 10% store services fee for sales made by app users within 12 months of app installation [1] Group 2 - Apple currently charges three types of fees, including a core technology fee for less than 1% of apps and a reduced commission for digital goods sold through the App Store [2] - The new fees will replace the reduced commission for digital goods and services sold through the App Store [2] - Spotify has criticized Apple's proposal, stating that the fees for communication with users disregard the requirements of the Digital Markets Act [2] Group 3 - The charge against Apple is the first under the Digital Markets Act, which aims to limit the power of big tech companies [3] - Violations of the Digital Markets Act could result in fines of up to 10% of a company's global annual turnover [3]

Google lost its landmark antitrust case against the US Department of Justice this week after a federal judge ruled the tech giant had built an illegal monopoly over the online search and advertising industry. The decision will probably have immense implications for both Google’s internal operations and how people interact with the most popular page on the internet.Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling specifically found that Google broke antitrust laws by striking exclusive agreements with device makers like Apple and ...

The vacation rental company Airbnb forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates on Tuesday and reported a lower second-quarter profit, as it flagged weakening demand from US customers.Shares of the company were down about 12% after the bell.Domestic travel in the United States has been pressured since the start of the year as more Americans grow cautious about travel spending amid growing economic uncertainty.The San Francisco-based company reported quarterly profit of $555m compared to $650m ...

Magnificent Seven Performance and AI Investment Concerns - The Magnificent Seven (Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Meta, Tesla) accounted for half the gains in the S&P 500 last year but have entered correction territory, with combined share prices falling over 10% since their peak on 10 July [1] - Concerns about the return on AI investments, mixed quarterly results, and weak US economic data have contributed to the decline [1] - The group has been hit by doubts over whether the $1tn investment in AI over the next few years will pay off, with estimates suggesting tech companies need to earn $600bn to cover AI investments [2] Sector Rotation and Market Impact - Investor expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut have shifted focus to smaller businesses, banks, and real estate firms, leading to sector rotation [3] - The concentration of the Magnificent Seven in the S&P 500 means their performance significantly impacts the broader market [3] Quarterly Results and Valuations - Microsoft's cloud computing division reported lower-than-expected growth, while Amazon's cloud growth was offset by higher AI infrastructure spending [4] - Meta's shares rose due to strong revenue growth, and Apple beat sales expectations [4] - Tech valuations reached 20-year highs, leading to a market pullback [6] AI Breakthroughs and Revenue Challenges - More AI breakthroughs are expected, with companies like Google DeepMind setting new records in AI performance [7] - The cost of frontier AI training runs has increased tenfold annually, raising questions about long-term financing for even well-capitalized companies like OpenAI [8] - Generative AI has seen bottom-up success in improving efficiency, but corporate-level success stories remain limited [9][10]

Intel, the chipmaker, has announced plans to cut more than 15,000 jobs as it tries to cut billions of dollars in costs and turn its business around to compete with more successful rivals.Shares in the company sank 19% as a string of leading technology stocks came under pressure on Thursday following a fresh batch of lackluster earnings that contributed to a sell-off on Wall Street.Intel said it would cut 15% of its massive workforce in a bid to “resize and refocus”, with the bulk of the layoffs taking place ...

Apple reported better-than-expected earnings in the third quarter of 2024, despite a year-over-year decline in iPhone sales and a continuing trend of decline in its key China market.Earnings exceeded analyst predictions, with revenue rising 4.9% year-over-year to $85.78bn in the three months ending 29 June, beating the average analyst estimate of $84.53bn, according to LSEG data. The company maintained its cash dividend at 25 cents for each share.Investors were keen to get updates on Apple sales in China, t ...

Microsoft outperformed analyst predictions in its latest quarterly earnings report, revealing on Tuesday that its revenue was up 15% year-over-year. But growth of the company’s closely watched Azure cloud computing services failed to meet expectations and shares in Microsoft fell as much as 7% in after-hours trading.The company was expected to report steady growth in its fourth quarter earnings report, mostly on the back of its cloud services. Revenue from those services grew 29%, lower than the 30% to 31% ...

Wall Street suffered its worst day of trading in 19 months as disappointment around earnings from Tesla and Google challenged the recent big-tech rally.The benchmark S&P 500 index dropped 2.3% as a sell-off triggered its biggest single-day fall since December 2022.The technology-focused Nasdaq retreated 3.6%, its largest single-day decline since October 2022.Shares in Tesla sank 12% after it reported a 45% slump in quarterly profits amid discounting by electric carmakers. Alphabet, the owner of Google and Y ...