AI to Flip the Switch on Google as Default Search Engine (Connecting the Dots: Google, Apple, Stanford, Microsoft & Soros Funding, All Networking)
Wednesday,
07 August 2024 07:37 AM EDT
https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/google-antitrust-decision/2024/08/07/id/1175546/
A
federal judge has branded Google as a ruthless monopolist bent on
suffocating its competitors. But how do you go about creating alternatives to a
search engine that's synonymous with internet exploration?
It's
a process that may take years to unfold as Google appeals the landmark decision
issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta.
And
with that kind of time frame looming, the forces of technological upheaval may
make the exercise moot.
The
rise of artificial intelligence may reshape the landscape more quickly and
profoundly than any judge ever could. The way consumers navigate the internet
is more likely to be affected by advances in AI products — such as OpenAI's
ChatGPT and Google's own Gemini — before a nearly 4-year-old case brought by
the U.S. Justice Department is finally resolved.
Even
so, Mehta's 277-page ruling Monday creates challenges for Google that company
founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin probably didn't envision when they set out
to revolutionize internet search while attending Stanford
University as
graduate students. They eventually dropped out to start a Silicon Valley
company in 1998 that adopted “Don't Be Evil” as a motto that also was meant to
serve as its corporate conscience.
Page
and Brin, who remain the controlling shareholders of Google's corporate parent
Alphabet Inc., also cast their cuddly startup as a crusader for technology that
would be far better than the products coming out of Microsoft, the industry's
reigning kingpin at the time. Microsoft's dominance of personal computer
software and anticompetitive tactics during the 1990s spurred another Justice
Department case that ended up hobbling Microsoft and helped make it easier for
Google to build its lead in search and then expand into maps, cloud computing,
email (Gmail), web browsers (Chrome) and video (YouTube).
Now,
the script has been flipped, with Google facing potential legal constraints,
while a resurgent Microsoft has been making early headway in AI with a major
helping hand from its investment in OpenAI. In one of the most dramatic
scenarios that most experts think is unlikely to happen, Google might be forced
to break up its business similar to how AT&T — once known as “Ma Bell” —
ended up spinning off its telephone subsidiaries into separate “Baby Bells”
more than 40 years ago.
It
will be left to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who took over the company's
leadership from Page in 2015, to minimize the distractions caused by the legal
skirmishing still to come and remain focused on an industrywide pivot to AI
technology that's expected to be as revolutionary as the mobile computing shift
by Apple's introduction of the iPhone in 2007.
The
debate about how Google should be overhauled will begin Sept. 6 with a hearing
scheduled in Washington, D.C., before Mehta, who also presided over the 10-week
trial last year that led to his antitrust decision.
Google
also will be pursing an appeal, based on its long-held contention that it has
done nothing wrong but build and maintain a search engine that has been far
superior to anything else for more than 20 years. The Mountain View,
California, company also maintains that competition is just a few clicks away,
with consumers still free to go to other options, such as Microsoft's Bing,
DuckDuckGo and, more recently, AI-powered alternatives such as Perplexity and
ChatGPT.
Although
Mehta praised the quality of Google's search engine in his ruling and
acknowledged the company initially became the people's preferred choice in its
early days, he concluded it resorted to unfair tactics to maintain its
leadership during the past decade. Google did it, Mehta said, mainly by
negotiating lucrative deals to cement a position as the default search engine
on the iPhone and wide range of other devices, including PCs.
Those
deals, which totaled $26 billion in 2021 alone, meant Google automatically
processed search requests unless consumers took the time to manually go into
their settings and choose another option — something that few do. The default
option then helped Google collect valuable insights that enabled the company to
improve its search engine in ways that rivals couldn't because they lacked the
same data.
Default
requests processed accounted for 60% of Google's search traffic in 2017, Mehta
pointed out in his ruling, and that volume in turn created more opportunities
to sell the ads that generate the majority of its parent company's $307 billion
in annual revenue.
Mehta's
focus on the default search deals in his ruling make it likely he may decide to
ban them after the next trial phase is completed, according to antitrust
experts. That could have implications for other companies besides Google,
especially Apple,
which pockets about $20 billion annually from an arrangement that is currently
scheduled to continue through 2026, with options to extend the alliance into
2028.
Apple
didn't respond to a request for comment about Mehta's decision, but its
executives have depicted the decision to make Google the default search engine
on the iPhone and other products as a convenience to its customers — most of
whom prefer to use Google.
But
an order preventing Apple from doing default search engine deals with Google
could do more than just siphon away revenue. It might also require Apple to
spend heavily to develop its own search technology — an endeavor that estimated
would cost more than $30 billion as part of 2020 analysis that Mehta cited in
his ruling. Then, it would cost Apple an additional $7 billion annually to
sustain its own search engine, according to Google's analysis.
Connecting
the Dots:
Google Inc. was
a funder for the Center for American Progress.
Apple Inc. was
a funder for the Center for American Progress.
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Center
for American Progress.
George Soros is the founder & chairman
for the Open Society Foundations, was the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society and a supporter for the Center for American
Progress.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for
the Center for American Progress and the New America
Foundation (think tank).
Eric
E. Schmidt is the chairman emeritus for the New America
Foundation (think tank), was the chairman for Google Inc., a
funder for the New America Foundation (think tank) and a
director at Apple Inc.
Laurene Powell
Jobs was a director at the New America Foundation, married
to Steve Jobs and is a trustee at Stanford University.
Steve Jobs was
married to Laurene Powell Jobs and the co-founder &
Chairman for Apple Inc.
Albert A. Gore Jr. is
a director at Apple Inc. and the chairman for the Climate
Reality Project.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder
for the Climate Reality Project and the Aspen Institute (think
tank).
George Soros was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Condoleezza Rice is
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a political
science professor for Stanford University.
Google Inc. was
a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
L. John Doerr is
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a director
at Google Inc.
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was the lobby firm for Google
Inc.
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer &
Feld, LLP, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank) and was the president of the Economic Club of
Washington.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for
the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for
the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Victoria P. Sant is
an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and
was
a trustee at Stanford University.
Robert M. Bass was
a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and a
trustee at Stanford University.
Pete Higgins is
a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and was a
trustee at Stanford University.
Steven A. Denning is
an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and
a trustee at Stanford University.
Mark B. McClellan was
a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and
an associate professor at Stanford University.
Pete Higgins is
a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and was a group
VP for the Microsoft Corporation.
William H. Gates
III is a co-founder & technology adviser & director for
the Microsoft Corporation and a co-chair for the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation.
Microsoft
Corporation was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think
tank), and the Center for American Progress.
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Google Inc. was
a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
David M.
Rubenstein is the co-chairman for the Brookings Institution
(think tank), the president of the Economic Club of Washington
and spent Thanksgiving with Joe Biden.
Susan Molinari is
a director at the Economic Club of Washington, a VP for Google
Inc. and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
Open Society Foundations was a funder
for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
George Soros is the founder & chairman
for the Open Society Foundations and a friend of Michael Douglas.
Robert G.
Liberatore was a director at the Atlantic Council of the
United States (think tank) and is a director at the Economic Club
of Washington.
Michael Douglas is
a friend of George Soros and a director at the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank).
Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a
funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).
Victoria Ransom
is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think
tank) and was a director of product for Google Inc.
Donald Kennedy was
a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think
tank) and the president of Stanford University.
James C. Gaither is
the chairman for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think
tank) and was chairman for Stanford University.
Open Society Foundations was a funder for
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
George Soros is the founder & chairman
for the Open Society Foundations, a friend of Michael
Douglas, Jonathan Soros’s father and was the chairman for
the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder
for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and
the New America Foundation.
Jonathan Soros is a
director at the New America Foundation and George Soros’s son.
Alan B. Davidson is
a fellow at the New America Foundation and was a senior policy
counsel for Google Inc.
Eric E. Schmidt is
the chairman emeritus for the New America Foundation was the CEO
for Google Inc., and a director at Apple Inc.
Laurene Powell
Jobs was a director at the New America Foundation, married
to Steve Jobs and is a trustee at Stanford University.
Steve Jobs was
married to Laurene Powell Jobs and the co-founder &
Chairman for Apple Inc.
Albert A. Gore Jr. is
a director at Apple Inc. and the chairman for the Climate
Reality Project.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Climate
Reality Project and the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Ann
McLaughlin Korologos was the chair emeritus at the Aspen
Institute (think tank) and a director at the Microsoft Corporation.
Google Inc. was
a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
L. John Doerr is
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a director
at Google Inc.
Henry
A. Kissinger was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank) and a member of the Bohemian Club.
Belizean_Grove is
the equivalent to the male-only social group, the Bohemian Club.
Henrietta
Holsman Fore is a member of the Belizean Grove and a
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Joanne R. Harrell is
a member of the Belizean Grove and a senior director, e-government
programs for the Microsoft Corporation.
Kimberly Till is
a member of the Belizean Grove and was a VP for the Microsoft
Corporation.
Mary Agnes
Wilderotter is a member of the Belizean Grove and was an
SVP for the Microsoft Corporation.
National
Security Agency (NSA) was a grant recipient from the Microsoft
Corporation.
Edward Snowden
leaked information about the National Security Agency (NSA) and was
an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz Allen
Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Resources:
Past Research
Google
Fined Record 2.4 Billion Euros in EU Antitrust Case (Past
Research on Google)
Tuesday,
June 27, 2017
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2017/06/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html
FAKE
NEWS: Google Targets Daily Wire, Other Conservative Sites With Left-Wing Fact
Checks, Immunizes Left-Wing Sites (Past Research on
the Apple & Google)
Thursday,
January 11, 2018
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2018/01/fake-news-google-targets-daily-wire.html
Apple
CEO Tim Cook: Global Warming Skeptics Should Dump Company's Stock (Past Research on Apple)
Monday,
March 3, 2014
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2014/03/apple-ceo-tim-cook-global-warming.html
Boehner:
There Is a Crisis In Relations Between Cops and African-Americans (Past Research on the Economic Club of Washington)
Sunday,
May 3, 2015
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2015/05/boehner-there-is-crisis-in-relations.html
Microsoft
Acknowledges Looking Inside Blogger’s Hotmail Inbox And Reading IM To Track
Source Of Leaked Company Information (Past Research
on the Microsoft Corporation)
Sunday,
March 23, 2014
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