What to know about Trump’s antitrust efforts against technological giants

Trump’s administration does not leave the technological giants.

On Monday, the Federal Trade Committee will face META in court for allegations that the social media giant broke competitors when it bought Instagram and Whatsapp. And on April 21, the Ministry of Justice will argue that a federal judge will have to force Google to sell Chrome Web browser to limit the power of the search monopoly.

Both cases, which helped in the movement of a new era of antitrust examination, were submitted during the first term of President Trump. They were promoted by the Biden administration, which also filed monopoly lawsuits against Apple, Apple and Google.

Investors in Silicon Valley and Wall Street hope that Mr Trump could show technology companies more estimated during his second term as he promised to release industries. Some legal experts believe that the administration could even get a lighter hand to exclude mergers and set preventive technology regulations.

So far, Mr Trump’s appointments have promised to continue much of the control of the largest technology companies, despite the hopes of industry.

“I think they may not have been fully focused on how much Trump’s first presidency had to do with setting this technology review” Bill Kovacic, a former FTC president, said.

Here’s what to know.

Who is responsible for the antitrust imposition now?

Mr Trump appointed Andrew Ferguson as president of FTC, who enforces the laws on antitrust protection and consumer protection. Mr Ferguson, a lawyer who spent much of his career working for powerful Republican senators, said he wants to increase control of the ways in which social media companies decide to take the positions down. Conservatives have been complaining for years that platforms such as Facebook and YouTube are disbelited by the right views.

“I will throw every resource that the organization has when prosecuting cases against the Big Tech we have gone,” Mr Ferguson said in an appearance on Bloomberg’s Podcast “Odd Lots” this year.

The new leader of the Department of Antitropolis Legislation of the Ministry of Justice, Gail Slater, a veteran lawyer for technology and media, worked at the White House during Mr Trump’s first term. It has also been committed to aggressively enforce the laws on antitrust legislation.

“It is now a bilateral issue and there is a consensus on the need for strong antitrust enforcement,” Ms Slater said at an event hosted this month by Y Combinator, Silicon Valley’s starting accelerator, which has pushed more antitrust control of technology.

Where are the major lawsuits of antitrust legislation against technological giants?

Five government affairs accuse technology companies of maintaining illegal monopolies and everyone is moving through the courts. Companies deny allegations.

• FTC sued Meta in 2020, arguing that Instagram acquisitions in 2012 and Whatsapp in 2014 violated the law using which regulators they call a “buy or Bury” strategy to eliminate its opponents. The trial is expected to run in July and show testimony from high profile data, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

• The Ministry of Justice sued Google in 2020 for claims that he had a monopoly on electronic search. A federal judge ruled for the government last year and will convene a hearing of about three weeks on how to deal with Google’s monopoly. The government has proposed that the company is selling Chrome, among other measures. Google suggested fewer restrictions and said it plans to appeal.

• The Ministry of Justice accused Google in 2023 of illegal sovereignty in advertising technology. A federal judge heard arguments in this case last year and a decision is expected soon.

• FTC accused Amazon of a 2023 lawsuit of compression of small traders using its purchase to sell to consumers. A federal judge rejected Amazon’s attempt to reject the case last year. Is scheduled to trial next year.

• The Ministry of Justice has sued Apple last year to claim that the interconnected ecosystem of the company’s technology makes it difficult for consumers to cut off their iPhones and iPads. Apple asked a federal judge to reject the lawsuit.

What about the mergers and acquisitions of the technology industry?

Biden’s administration has tried and failed to block many technological agreements, including the Meta market for a slight starting virtual reality, means. The impulse to stop the acquisitions of outraged investors supporting small companies who want to redeem with the acquisition of a technological giant.

Mr Trump’s appointments say they want to escape acquisitions that do not have a competitive problem. Ms Slater expressed the opening of the proposal of the settlements of the companies – such as the sale of similar assets – which can help resolve concerns about the agreements.

At the end of January, the Ministry of Justice sued from blocking the business software company Hewlett Packard Enterprise from the market for Juniper Networks, a networking company, for $ 14 billion. It was the first lawsuit to challenge a technological agreement in Mr Trump’s second term.

During Trump’s first administration, the Ministry of Justice unsuccessfully questioned Time Warner’s AT&T market.

What does this mean for the struggle of artificial intelligence?

Last year, the Ministry of Justice and the FTC agreed to divide responsibility to investigate whether the biggest players in artificial intelligence violated the laws of antitrust legislation. The Ministry of Justice began investigating Nvidia, while FTC took Microsoft and its partner, Openai.

It is not clear whether these investigations will lead to lawsuits. Trump’s administration has promised to clarify the way for US companies to develop AI, including the cancellation of an executive command of the Biden era that has put the protective messages in the use of technology.

The administration has called for the contribution of the industry to the best way to promote with technology policy, an opening that companies and investors have put pressure on fewer rules.

“I think it is extremely important to protect competition in the AI ​​field, but I think it is just as important for the government not to fight to regulate AI,” Mr Ferguson told Bloomberg TV in March.