Break up Google, US urges in landmark antitrust case
The US Justice Department says the best way to address Google's monopoly in internet search is to break up the $US1.81 trillion ($2.8 trillion) company, kicking off a three-week hearing that could reshape the technology giant and alter the power players in Silicon Valley.
Judge Amit P. Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in August that Google had broken antitrust laws to maintain its dominance in online search. He is now hearing arguments from the government and the company over how to best fix Google's monopoly and is expected to order those measures, referred to as 'remedies,' by the end of the summer.
In an opening statement in the hearing Monday, the government said Mehta should force Google to sell its popular Chrome web browser, which drives users to its search engine. Government lawyers also said the company should take steps to give competitors a leg up if the court wants to restore competition to the moribund market for online search.
'Your honour, we are not here for a Pyrrhic victory,' David Dahlquist, a Justice Department lawyer, said in his opening statement. 'This is the time for the court to tell Google and all other monopolists who are out there listening, and they are listening, that there are consequences when you break the antitrust laws.'
Google's lawyers countered that Mehta should narrowly target his remedies. Specifically, they said, the court should look only at a group of deals that the company makes with Apple, Mozilla, Samsung and others to be the search engine that automatically appears in web browsers and smartphones. These deals were at the heart of the government's case against the company.
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Google's proposal 'directly responds to this court's legal determinations, but it also does much more,' said John Schmidtlein, Google's lead trial lawyer.
The outcome in the case, US v. Google, could drastically change the Silicon Valley behemoth. Google faces mounting challenges, including a breakup of its ad technology business after a different federal judge ruled last week that the company held a monopoly over some of the tools that websites use to sell open ad space. In 2023, Google also lost an antitrust suit brought by the maker of the video game Fortnite, which accused the tech giant of violating competition laws with its Play app store.
The legal troubles could hurt Google as it battles OpenAI, Microsoft and Meta to lead a new era of artificial intelligence. Google has increasingly woven AI into its search. But the Justice Department has told Mehta he should make sure Google cannot parlay its search monopoly into similar dominance in AI.
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As Trump was speaking, Musk wrote on X, "Slim Beautiful Bill for the win," a reference to the bill's official title, the Big Beautiful Bill Act. Musk followed that up with another post, saying he was fine with the cuts to electric vehicle credits as long as Republicans removed what he called a "mountain of disgusting pork" in wasteful spending from the bill. Musk came into the government with brash plans to cut $US2 trillion ($A3.1 trillion) out of the federal budget. He left last week having achieved far less than that, having cut about half of one per cent of total spending. Musk has been a powerful Trump ally, spending nearly $US300 million ($A460 million) to boost Republicans in the 2024 election and then overseeing Trump's Department of Government Efficiency. 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But I'm, I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot." Trump earlier posted on his Truth Social website about how the US Budget could save money by terminating Musk's contracts with the government. "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!," he wrote. Musk fired back on X by saying Trump is mentioned in still-secret Justice Department files related to wealthy financier Epstein and he suggested that was why the records have not been released. Musk provided no support for the claim, but it came amid a spectacular and public disintegration of his once-close relationship with Trump. Trump also asserted that Musk's days of blistering attacks on the bill were motivated by the proposed elimination of consumer tax credits for electric vehicles. Musk, the CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla, has said he opposes the bill because it will increase federal deficits. Trump suggested that Musk, who received a praise-filled send-off from Trump last week after overseeing his federal bureaucracy cost-cutting campaign, was upset because he missed working for Trump. "He's not the first," Trump said. "People leave my administration ... then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it and some of them actually become hostile." As Trump was speaking, Musk wrote on X, "Slim Beautiful Bill for the win," a reference to the bill's official title, the Big Beautiful Bill Act. Musk followed that up with another post, saying he was fine with the cuts to electric vehicle credits as long as Republicans removed what he called a "mountain of disgusting pork" in wasteful spending from the bill. Musk came into the government with brash plans to cut $US2 trillion ($A3.1 trillion) out of the federal budget. 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And Musk lashed back, saying - without providing evidence - that Trump was implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein files. "Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday. "He said the most beautiful things about me, and he hasn't said bad about me personally, but I'm sure that'll be next. But I'm, I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot." Trump earlier posted on his Truth Social website about how the US Budget could save money by terminating Musk's contracts with the government. "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!," he wrote. Musk fired back on X by saying Trump is mentioned in still-secret Justice Department files related to wealthy financier Epstein and he suggested that was why the records have not been released. 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"The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!," he wrote. Musk fired back on X by saying Trump is mentioned in still-secret Justice Department files related to wealthy financier Epstein and he suggested that was why the records have not been released. Musk provided no support for the claim, but it came amid a spectacular and public disintegration of his once-close relationship with Trump. Trump also asserted that Musk's days of blistering attacks on the bill were motivated by the proposed elimination of consumer tax credits for electric vehicles. Musk, the CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla, has said he opposes the bill because it will increase federal deficits. 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Sky News AU
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Elon Musk has gone low in his rapidly escalating feud with Trump, accusing him of withholding information about Jeffrey Epstein because it would implicate the President himself. Elon Musk went low in his rapidly escalating feud with President Trump Thursday, accusing him of withholding information from the public about the infamous sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein because it would implicate Trump himself. 'Time to drop the really big bomb,' Musk posted on X after a multi-hour tirade against the president. '@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files.' 'That is the real reason they have not been made public,' he claimed. 'Have a nice day, DJT!' The Justice Department in February released more than 100 pages of Epstein's phone contacts and flight logs in a 'Phase One' disclosure that disappointed internet sleuths hoping for bombshell revelations. The disgraced financier's association with Trump has been known for years as the two were videotaped and photographed together at parties in the 1990s, and the initial batch of DOJ-released files only revealed the names of some family members — including Trump's first wife Ivana and daughter Ivanka — as Epstein contacts. Aides privately have acknowledged that the president's association with Epstein likely would resurface in a fuller release of files — though they don't believe that any alleged wrongdoing by Trump is described. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025 The contact list and flight logs appeared to be pulled directly from Epstein's 'little black book,' one of which was made public in 2021 during his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell's trial and another of which was auctioned off. That 1990s-era contact list contains 349 names, 221 of which weren't included in a 2015 revealing of Epstein associates by the website Gawker. The black book being auctioned off reportedly contains 94 printed entries with 'black, hand-applied checkmarks, and five have been highlighted in yellow,' according to Alexander Historical Auctions. 'All five names, including that of Donald Trump, are well-recognized financial and industrial figures,' the online auctioneer's webpage notes. Online conspiracists have long speculated that high-power 'clients' of Epstein visited his private island Little St. James in the Caribbean, where many young women and underage girls were allegedly abused. Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Prince Andrew are just some of the famous passengers the financier flew on other trips aboard his private plane, later nicknamed the 'Lolita Express.' Epstein was found dead with bedsheets around his neck in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on Aug. 10, 2019, just over a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. Last September, Trump said he'd have 'no problem' releasing more official files related to Epstein if elected — including the deceased pedophile's so-called 'client list.' 'I don't think – I mean, I'm not involved,' he noted. 'I never went to his island, fortunately, but a lot of people did.' The president reportedly banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago in 2007 over an incident with a club member's teen daughter. Attorney General Pam Bondi has demanded the complete files be turned over to the DOJ after hinting at the FBI's New York Field Office being 'in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein.' The ravings of the world's richest man, who until last month led Trump's Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting crusade, shocked official Washington and set off speculation about Musk's state of mind. One source close to the White House explained Musk's behavior by saying that he 'fundamentally has an unstable, uncontrollable element to his personality and he lashes out.' 'He's had similar outbursts when running his companies. Sometimes greatest strength can also be greatest weakness,' this person said. 'Revenge, yes. Also, he wanted not just [electric vehicle] mandates [in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act] but a level of exclusivity for Tesla on the American EV market. And he didn't want fresh competitors like Faraday Future & others to cramp his style.' A second source close to the administration said there was a 50/50 chance Musk was either 'just throwing a temper tantrum' or 'creating distance [from Trump] thinking it'll help [Tesla] stock price.' Democrats grab popcornDemocrats watched the social media food fight with glee Thursday after months of flailing for traction amid unified Republican government in Washington — as Trump threatened to end billions in federal funding for SpaceX and Tesla, while Musk's opposition threatened to tank Trump's bill to implement campaign pledges to ax taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security. 'The Trump-Musk feud is like a reality TV episode of the 'Real Housewives', only with less stable people,' snarked Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic National Committeeman from New York. 'It is just further proof this is all personal and about lining their own pockets and no one is actually doing what is good for the American people,' jabbed a high-ranking former Biden White House official. A congressional Democratic source noted that Musk was Trump's top financial backer in the 2024 election, making the sudden onset and ferocity of the feud even more shocking. 'Now that the Trump experiment to use the richest man in the world as his cash cow drone has failed, Trump must recalibrate or this will be a real problem for him, politically and personally,' the source said. 'For Donald Trump to have not seen this coming makes you both question everything, and worry.' Originally published as Elon Musk drops 'really big bomb,' accuses Donald Trump of being in Epstein files as public brawl escalates
