The US government and Google are locked in an awkward, albeit required, legal dance as each side tries to convince a judge how severe or relaxed the remedies to a lack of competition in search will be following a landmark legal ruling.
Last August, US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had been illegally exploiting its dominance in the search sector to stifle competition and innovation and ultimately harm consumers with less choice.
For those unfamiliar with how big tech antitrust cases work, what’s currently unfolding in court between Google and the Department of Justice might seem unusual.
During the opening arguments of the remedy portion of the trial, the DOJ has pushed for Google to be forced to sell its Chrome browser, which dominates search in terms of market share around the world.
Federal regulators have also expressed the aim of curtailing Google’s development and distribution of artificial intelligence products, with hopes of stopping the company from replicating what it has done in the search sector in the context of the burgeoning AI sector.
The Alphabet-owned Google, meanwhile, disagrees with the assessment that it was illegally squashing competition, and in some ways is still trying to get the case thrown out – but that looks increasingly unlikely.
For Google’s portion of its opening arguments, one of the company’s lawyers bashed the solution pitched by the DOJ, describing it as “a wishlist for competitors looking to get the benefits of Google's extraordinary innovations”.
Meanwhile, much like a regular trial, both sides are calling witnesses to the stand. Competitors, business analysts and industry experts are being peppered with questions about what remedies to Google’s search monopoly might look like, and most importantly, to speculate about the potential ripple effects.
Gabriel Weinberg, chief executive of DuckDuckGo, a browser and search engine competitor to Google, was the latest witness called to the stand this week. Mr Weinberg told the court that Google’s Chrome browser could be worth as much as $50 billion if the company were forced to sell it.
Because antitrust trials of this size are few and far between, experts have been hesitant to speculate on what remedy might be decided upon. The DOJ sought to ask questions that showed how DuckDuckGo might benefit, while Google litigators sought to show how a strict remedy might hurt DuckDuckGo.
Mark MacCarthy, a senior fellow at the Institute for Technology Law and Policy at Georgetown University in Washington, has studied antitrust policy for several decades, and said Google’s dominance presents a unique challenge, even after its legal defeat.
“To do it right would require unprecedented co-operation among the courts involved,” he said. “My view is that this would be better done by a new digital regulatory agency.”
With the Trump administration’s current obsession is with cutting resources to various federal agencies, it’s unlikely there’s an appetite from the White House to create anything new to oversee a Google monopoly remedy.
That said, Mr MacCarthy said enforcement mechanisms need to be applied persistently, and for a long period of time for any sort of effectiveness in the Google case. “To enforce a divestiture the judge would have to supervise ongoing restrictions to prevent Google from recreating the anticompetitive arrangements by contract rather than through ownership,” he explained.
Neil Chilson, who was chief technologist for the Federal Trade Commission during the first Trump administration and is now head of AI policy at the Abundance Institute, didn’t mince words with his criticisms of US regulatory efforts as the remedy portion of the trial gets under way.
“Of particular concern are the remedies seeking to regulate Google’s development and distribution of generative AI tools, which are outside of the scope of the case. Google has some of the world’s best AI technology but competition is fierce and international,” Mr Chilson said.
“Other remedies, like breaking out Chrome, for example, not only wouldn’t address the core conduct that the court found problematic (exclusive contracts for default placements), it would also cripple a very popular free product that consumers love.”
On that point, the both Alphabet and the DOJ might agree: Chrome is the dominant search engine. The question now is, what will happen to it? Whatever the result, hundreds of millions of users could be affected.
All this is unfolding as Google deals with the fallout of another court ruling that found the company abused its market dominance in advertising technology. Google plans to appeal.
Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk
“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”
“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”
“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”
“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
MATCH INFO
English Premiership semi-finals
Saracens 57
Wasps 33
Exeter Chiefs 36
Newcastle Falcons 5
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
