💥 Google loses adtech monopoly case

💥 Google loses adtech monopoly case

• A federal judge concluded that Google violated antitrust laws by unlawfully maintaining dominant control over the digital advertising technology sector, siding with the Department of Justice.

• The court found Google engaged in deliberate anticompetitive behavior to establish and preserve its monopoly in the markets for publisher ad servers and advertising exchanges on the open web.

• This significant ruling confirms the government's assertion that the technology firm unfairly profits, preceding another legal phase concerning potential changes to Google's search operations.

🧠 OpenAI launches a pair of AI reasoning models, o3 and o4-mini

• OpenAI has introduced two artificial intelligence systems named o3 and o4-mini, engineered to pause and work through questions before delivering their answers to users.

• The o3 system represents the company's most advanced reasoning performance on tests, while o4-mini offers an effective trade-off between cost, speed, and overall competence for applications.

• These new AI models are available to specific subscribers and through developer APIs, featuring novel abilities like image analysis and using tools such as web search.

📱 Perplexity AI to come pre-installed on Samsung and Motorola smartphones

• Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI is in discussions with leading mobile brands Samsung and Motorola regarding the inclusion of its technology on their future handset releases.

• Reports indicate Motorola is closer to finalizing an agreement for preloading the software, whereas Samsung is still determining specifics due to its existing Google partnership complexities.

• Securing these collaborations would mark a substantial advancement for the relatively new AI company, potentially boosting its profile against established competitors like Google Gemini very soon.

💰 OpenAI is in talks to buy Windsurf for $3 billion

• OpenAI is reportedly negotiating the purchase of the developer tools provider Windsurf, formerly called Codeium, in a potential transaction valued at approximately three billion dollars.

• Windsurf, which generates about $40 million in annual revenue, offers an AI coding assistant compatible with multiple development environments and emphasizes enterprise-grade data privacy features.

• This prospective deal could enhance OpenAI's competitive capabilities against alternatives like GitHub Copilot and Google Gemini in the expanding field of AI-powered software creation tools.

🫣 Google, Apple, and Snap aren’t happy about Meta’s poorly-redacted slides

• Meta received strong complaints from Apple, Google, and Snap after poorly redacted court documents in its antitrust case inadvertently revealed confidential competitor information to the public.

• The insufficiently obscured legal filings contained sensitive business details, including data suggesting Apple Messages leads on iOS and that Snapchat faced numerous successful competitors beyond Meta's platforms.

• Lawyers representing the other technology giants voiced sharp criticism regarding the information exposure, suggesting this error could damage future trust and cooperation with Meta concerning sensitive data.

🚫 Meta blocks Apple Intelligence on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp

• Meta has opted to disable Apple Intelligence functions, including Writing Tools and Genmoji creation, within its suite of iOS applications like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

• Users accessing the social media firm's mobile software will find that integrated features for AI text assistance or customized emoji generation are currently inaccessible on their iPhones.

• Although the technology company did not provide a specific reason, speculation suggests it aims to promote its own Meta AI amid past disagreements with Apple.