Today’s top stories for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) cover regulatory and reputational news.
The UK data protection and digital information bill is facing criticism for favoring big business and “shady” tech firms, which undermines individuals’ control over their data.
The bill includes changes to subject access requests (SARs) and automated decision-making, making it easier for organizations to refuse requests for personal data.
The bill also expands the use of AI and automated decision-making, grants extensive powers to the secretary of state, and creates vague exemptions for data reuse.
These changes pose regulatory risks for companies like Google in terms of privacy and data protection. The bill has been criticized for weakening individuals’ control over their own data and prioritizing the interests of big business and technology companies over everyday people, The Guardian reports.
A federal judge has narrowed the scope of the antitrust lawsuit against Google, dismissing claims that Google maintained a monopoly by boosting its own products in search results.
However, the case will proceed with claims that Google broke the law with agreements ensuring it would be the default search engine on mobile browsers. The decision sets the stage for the first major tech monopoly trial since the federal government took Microsoft Inc (NASDAQ: MSFT) to court in the 1990s.
The trial, scheduled for September 12th, will focus on whether Google’s multibillion-dollar agreements to be the default search engine on various devices and browsers are anti-competitive, San Jose Inside reports.
Generative AI tools, originally developed by Google, are being exploited to flood fake news sites and jeopardize the company’s ad business.
A recent study revealed that Google Ads, the largest digital advertising platform, placed ads for at least 141 global brands on these fictitious websites generated by AI.
The ads are placed through programmatic advertising, leaving advertisers unaware of where their ads are being displayed.
These fake news sites produce a high volume of content using generative AI, resulting in repetitive and generic language.
This poses a significant threat to Google’s ad platform integrity and reputation, Fagenwasanni reports.
Produced in association with Benzinga
