The Ashurst Perkins Coie antitrust team is excited to share with you our new monthly newsletter: The Bug.
It sets out our selection of the most recent developments at the intersection of antitrust and technology in the US, EU, and UK, as well as what to look out for in the coming months.
August 2026 – This month's issue features the growing role of state attorneys general in antitrust enforcement, including a coalition of 12 State AGs successfully blocking the Paramount Skydance–Warner Bros. merger without a federal co-plaintiff, Apple's App Store changes for the EEA under DMA scrutiny and Google's suspension of search-ranking demotions in the EEA, the FTC's investigation into Epic Systems Corp. over alleged dominance abuse through noncompete agreements and data access restrictions, the EC's finding that Google breached DMA self-preferencing and anti-steering rules in Google Search and Google Play with 60 days to implement corrective measures, Germany's Federal Cartel Office closing its Apple App Tracking Transparency investigation after binding commitments to improve consent prompt comparability, the upcoming full Senate vote on Adam Candeub as DOJ Antitrust Division head, the EC's designation of one Very Large Online Search Engine and two Very Large Online Platforms under the Digital Services Act, and DMA case teams returning to Brussels expected to launch new AI-focused investigations.
July 2026 – This month's issue of The Bug features the EU General Court's dismissal of Apple's challenges to its gatekeeper designation under the DMA, U.S. DOJ leadership's signaled shift toward light-touch antitrust enforcement favoring settlements over litigation, a coalition of 12 state attorneys general suing to block the Paramount and Warner Bros. merger despite prior DOJ approval, Senator Mike Lee's information request to Uber and Lyft regarding ride pricing and driver fees, the European Parliament's annual competition policy resolution urging impartial DMA enforcement and reduced dependence on non-EU cloud, AI, and payments providers, the entry into force of the Digital Omnibus on AI postponing high-risk AI Act obligations and banning "nudification" apps, the anticipated Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Adam Candeub's confirmation to lead the DOJ Antitrust Division, the U.K. government's call for evidence on whether U.K. data regulation remains fit for AI and data-intensive technologies, and the Information Commissioner's Office report calling for legislation on a statutory data protection sandbox.
June 2026 – This month's issue of The Bug features the reintroduction of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) renaming covered entities "Systemically Important Platforms" and narrowing affirmative defenses, the EC's DMA designation investigations into AI assistants and its interim measures requiring Meta to provide free WhatsApp access to competing AI companies, the FTC's investigation into Arm Holdings over semiconductor licensing practices, state AGs' request for Ticketmaster divestiture following the Live Nation jury verdict, the U.K. CAT's refusal to revoke the Apple app developer collective action, Italy's DMA investigation into Apple's third-party cloud access, the EC's preliminary gatekeeper designation findings for Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, a joint statement by European competition authorities supporting merger call-in powers, and the delayed Council vote on the Digital Omnibus pending the incoming Irish presidency.
May 2026 – This month's issue features the European Commission's first DMA review, which concludes the regulation remains fit for purpose while acknowledging it has not yet reached its full potential, including discussion of the DMA's application to cloud and AI services; Maryland's enactment of the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act, the first U.S. state-level restriction on the use of consumer data for individualized food pricing; DOJ Deputy AAG Daniel Glad's remarks on criminal prosecutorial standards for sensitive data sharing among competitors; the DOJ's warning against invoking AI disruption as a pretext to justify anticompetitive mergers; the UK CMA's conditional approval of the Getty Images and Shutterstock merger; Austria's update to its media merger rules in conformance with the European Media Freedom Act; a French court's confirmation that Apple's supply restrictions on premium resellers constituted an abuse of economic dependency; Denmark's halt of Visma Dinero's AI accounting assistant following competition authority concerns over competitor cost and pricing transparency; the European Commission's open consultation on draft AI transparency obligation guidelines under the AI Act; and the DOJ's proposed settlement with Agri Stats over the facilitation of competitively sensitive information sharing among meat processors.
April 2026 – This month's issue features the DOJ's proposed settlement with a revenue management software provider restricting use of competitors' nonpublic data and offering guidance on algorithmic pricing risk, the debate on crisis cartels amid geopolitical tensions discussed by DG Competition Director-General Anthony Whelan, the DOJ's investigation of the NFL over streaming costs, the extended public comment period to May 21, 2026 for DOJ and FTC competitor collaboration guidelines, the EC's new EU Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation effective May 1, 2026, the EC's supplementary SO to Meta on API access for third-party AI interoperability with WhatsApp, the CMA's acceptance of Apple and Google commitments under the DMCC Act on app review and interoperability, the CMA's acceptance of Amazon and Microsoft cloud commitments and announcement of a May 2026 Microsoft business software investigation, upcoming EC merger guidelines, the EDPB's summer Guidelines on Anonymization, and the EU's proposal to ease state aid rules for the energy crisis.
March 2026 – This month's issue features the growing global focus on algorithmic pricing, including the UK CMA's investigation of hotel data analytics tools and guidance on algorithms, the EC's confidential investigations, Italian and Dutch market investigations of aviation pricing, the DOJ's proposed settlement with Live Nation allowing Ticketmaster's system as a standalone platform without divestiture, Google and Epic Games' worldwide Play Store settlement, the Ninth Circuit's denial of NHK Spring's rehearing on hard-drive component pricing, the FTC's refusal to quash a NewsGuard Technologies subpoena regarding alleged viewpoint censorship, President Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge for data center power costs, the EC and EDPB's public consultation on DMA and GDPR interplay, and the Italian Competition Authority's quantum computing market investigation.
February 2026 – This month's issue features expanding antitrust enforcement in AI and digital markets, including EU competition authorities' scrutiny of AI value chain distribution and deployment practices, the DOJ's inaugural $1 million antitrust whistleblower award, U.S. Senators' calls for investigation of AI acqui-hiring deals, the DOJ and plaintiff states' cross-appeal in the Google Search case, the European Commission's investigation of Google's use of publisher content for AI Overviews and YouTube content to train GenAI models, the UK CMA's consultation on Apple and Google mobile platform commitments, and the European Commission's Digital Networks Act and Digital Omnibus proposals.
January 2026 – This month's issue features significant antitrust developments in digital platforms and AI, including the Ninth Circuit's ruling on Apple's App Store practices, the DOJ's landmark settlement with RealPage on algorithmic pricing, regulatory investigations by the European Commission into Meta and Google's AI practices, and emerging merger control considerations for data-driven transactions.
December 2025 – This month's issue features an examination of state legislative efforts to combat algorithmic price-fixing and digital collusion, including analysis of enacted laws in California, New York, and Connecticut, as well as key compliance considerations for businesses.
November 2025 – This month’s issue features an overview regarding the judicial and regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s iOs and App Store ecosystems, as well updates on pricing algorithms in the antitrust context.
October 2025 – This month’s issue features recent developments in Epic Games, Inc. v. Google LLC and includes other key developments on both sides of the Pond.
September 2025 – This month’s issue includes our thoughts on the German Federal Court of Justice’s recent clarification regarding the scope of “substantial domestic operations” under the merger control transaction value test as well as other developments on both sides of the Pond.
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