CMA says tech company has ‘abused its dominant position’ to the detriment of publishers and advertisers * Business live – latest updates The UK competition watchdog has accused Google of anti-competitive behaviour in the market for buying and selling ads on websites, in a move that follows similar investigations in the US and the EU. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had found that Google has “abused its dominant position” in online advertising to the detriment of thousands of UK publishers and advertisers. Continue reading...

Move is the latest of a string of CMA investigations into technology tie-ups Amazon’s $4bn investment into US artificial intelligence startup Anthropic is to be examined in the latest investigation into technology tie-ups by the UK’s competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Thursday that it was launching a preliminary investigation into the deal, before deciding whether to refer it for an in-depth review. Continue reading...

CMA to consider whether deal with AI startup is a potential merger, which could prompt full investigation The Competition and Markets Authority has launched a preliminary investigation into a partnership between Google and Anthropic, marking the latest in a string of investigations into deals between big tech companies and AI startups. Google invested $2bn into Anthropic in 2023, shortly after signing a cloud computing agreement with the startup, which develops the Claude LLM and chatbot. Continue reading...

Social media platform uses pre-ticked boxes of consent, a practice that violates UK and EU GDPR rules Elon Musk’s X platform is under pressure from data regulators after it emerged that users are consenting to their posts being used to build artificial intelligence systems via a default setting on the app. The UK and Irish data watchdogs said they have contacted X over the apparent attempt to gain user consent for data harvesting without them knowing about it. Continue reading...

Startup’s new approach means Apple will no longer be able to appoint executive to similar role Microsoft has withdrawn its observer seat on the OpenAI board and Apple will no longer be able to appoint an executive to a similar role, amid regulatory scrutiny of big tech’s relationship with artificial intelligence startups. Microsoft, the largest financial backer of the ChatGPT developer, announced the move in a letter to the startup, as first reported by the Financial Times. It said the resignation of the observer role, which does not carry a vote in board decisions, was “effective immediately”. Continue reading...