Wednesday, August 7, 2024

AI to Flip the Switch on Google as Default Search Engine (Connecting the Dots: Google, Apple, Stanford, Microsoft & Soros Funding, All Networking)

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

(AP)

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 DouglasJonathan 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

https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2014/03/microsoft-acknowledges-looking-inside.html

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