Antitrust

Apple’s ‘We’re Not That Big’ Defense Just Died. Every Walled Garden Should Be Terrified.

The EU General Court upheld Apple’s designation as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act, rejecting Apple’s argument that small market share in individual subcategories exempts it. The ruling establishes that ecosystem control itself constitutes gatekeeping power β€” a precedent that extends far beyond Apple to any platform with critical mass and a closed loop, from gaming consoles to cloud services to future AR/VR worlds.

The Free Electricity Party for AI Is Over. Oregon Just Sent the Bill.

Oregon just approved a 29.7% rate hike for data centers under a landmark law, forcing Big Tech to pay the real cost of AI’s massive energy demands. This ends the hidden subsidy where residents bore grid costs for trillion-dollar companiesβ€”and signals a nationwide shift that will raise the price of every AI service.

Linus Torvalds Warned You. You Didn’t Listen. Now Microsoft Owns Your Stack.

Linus Torvalds warned everyone about Microsoft’s ’embrace, extend, extinguish’ playbook decades ago. Everyone ignored him. Now Microsoft owns GitHub, npm, VS Code, and has its hands deep in Linux, Kubernetes, and AI frameworks. The open-source label is still on the box. The lock-in is underneath. This isn’t generosity β€” it’s the most sophisticated absorption strategy in tech history.

The Egg Price-Fixing Settlement That Should Make You Furious

Egg producers are paying $3.3 million and donating 53 million eggs to settle a price-fixing lawsuit. But the math reveals a harsh truth: the penalty is a tiny fraction of the billions they stole from consumers. Price-fixing isn’t a bugβ€”it’s a feature of consolidated supply chains where the risk/reward ratio favors cheating. This settlement is a slap on the wrist that proves collusion pays.

Disney’s Free Speech Crusade Is a Lie. Here’s What’s Really Happening.

Disney’s accusation that the US media regulator wants to ‘sit in the editor’s chair’ isn’t a free speech defense β€” it’s a calculated PR maneuver. By framing regulatory oversight as existential censorship, Disney deflects scrutiny from its own unprecedented media dominance while weaponizing a legitimate fear to protect its commercial interests. The real threat to editorial diversity isn’t just government overreach. It’s unchecked corporate power hiding behind the First Amendment.

Big Banks Are Quietly Plotting to Raise Your Debit Fees. It Might Destroy Them.

Major US banks are plotting to buy a debit-card network to bypass regulatory caps and hike interchange fees. While this threatens to raise costs for everyday consumers, it might be the banks’ biggest mistake yet. Their greed could accelerate the adoption of real-time payment systems like FedNow, bypassing card networks and destroying their own dominance.

The Audit Isn’t About Compliance. It’s About Punishment β€” and Every Enterprise Is Next.

Allstate followed every rule when leaving VMware after Broadcom’s acquisition. Then Broadcom hit them with a forensic audit. This isn’t about complianceβ€”it’s punishment. Every enterprise running software from an acquired vendor should see this as a warning: your exit rights are the only thing that matters, and they might not exist.

Meta’s AI Future Hinges on One Thing β€” And It’s Killing the Company From Within

Meta’s AI pivot is being sabotaged by its own ad-driven culture. While competitors like OpenAI and Google start fresh, Zuckerberg’s company is stuck reconciling a $130 billion surveillance business with a future that demands trust and data ownership. The real threat isn’t external β€” it’s the internal resistance to change.

Sam Altman Isn’t a Socialist. He’s Engineering the Greatest Monopoly in Tech History.

Sam Altman’s sudden pivot to begging for government regulation isn’t a socialist awakeningβ€”it’s a masterclass in regulatory capture. By weaponizing state power under the guise of public safety, Altman is pulling up the ladder for competitors while keeping OpenAI’s profits firmly in private hands. He isn’t sharing the pie; he’s making it illegal for anyone else to bake.