What Trump’s election win means for Google antitrust cases — and the tech industry

Donald Trump’s White House triumph could person a awesome effect connected antitrust regularisation and US argumentation toward nan tech assemblage – including a brace of pending Justice Department cases against Google.

Trump – a longtime Google professional who has accused nan hunt elephantine of governmental bias and predetermination interference – has nevertheless expressed reluctance to break up nan institution of late. That’s contempt nan truth that nan DOJ’s lawsuit targeting its online hunt monopoly began successful 2020 during Trump’s first word successful office.

“It’d a very vulnerable point because we want to person awesome companies,” Trump said during an arena successful Chicago past month. “We don’t want China to person these companies. Right now, China is acrophobic of Google.”

On Wednesday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai was among a number of tech CEOs who congratulated Trump connected his White House win.

“Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump connected his decisive victory,” Pichai wrote. “We are successful a aureate property of American invention and are committed to moving pinch his management to thief bring nan benefits to everyone.”

Google presently faces a brace of Justice Department antitrust cases that could upend its business – 1 targeting its online hunt empire and different focused connected its integer advertizing business. The DOJ besides has a pending antitrust suit against Apple, while nan Federal Trade Commission is suing Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta and Amazon.

US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled successful August that Google has an forbidden monopoly complete online search. However, a abstracted proceedings to find due remedies will agelong into Trump’s first word successful agency – pinch Mehta not expected to make a determination until adjacent summer.

The timeline intends would springiness Trump – and his DOJ appointees – nan intends to set their strategy.

“He is surely successful nan position to power nan DOJ’s disposition of nan remedies phase,” William Kovacic, a Republican and erstwhile Federal Trade Commission chair nether George W. Bush, told Reuters.

Last month, nan DOJ said floated a forced selloff of parts of Google’s business, specified arsenic its Chrome web browser, among nan remedies nan tribunal could pursue.

During a caller question and reply pinch Joe Rogan, Trump bragged that Pichai had called to compliment him astir nan fame of YouTube videos showing nan Republican’s caller campaigns extremity serving fries astatine a McDonald’s successful Pennsylvania.  

Trump referred to some Google and Apple arsenic “great companies” during a conversation pinch power big Hugh Hewitt. He said that Apple CEO Tim Cook had precocious called him to kick astir nan billions of dollars successful fines his institution presently faces successful Europe.

The president-elect besides slammed nan European Union for stepping up regulatory enforcement against US tech firms.

“If you look astatine Google lately, I deliberation you’re going to spot they’ve go overmuch much inclined towards Trump,” he said. “They’re starting to for illustration Trump, because they’re starting to get it.”

To nan astonishment of many, Trump has besides expressed skepticism astir nan ongoing effort successful Congress to unit a divestment aliases prohibition of China-owned TikTok. The ineligible conflict complete nan app’s early is presently tied up successful national court.

More broadly, Trump’s presidency is expected to consequence successful a looser regulatory situation for tech firms.

That includes nan various companies led by billionaire Elon Musk, who became a awesome state and megadonor for nan Trump campaigns. During nan Biden administration, Musk had complained regularly astir nan reddish portion that SpaceX and Tesla person faced.

Trump has signaled he would name Musk to service arsenic nan leader of a caller “government ratio commission” to slash wasteful spending and regulations astatine nan national level.

Trump is besides virtually definite to switch FTC chair Lina Khan and SEC chair Gary Gensler – each of whom had roiled apical business executives by starring fierce crackdowns connected everything from mergers and acquisitions to cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence.

With Post wires