Google Owes $338.7 Mln in Chromecast Patent Case, US Jury Says

The logo of Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 17, 2021. (Reuters)
The logo of Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 17, 2021. (Reuters)
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Google Owes $338.7 Mln in Chromecast Patent Case, US Jury Says

The logo of Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 17, 2021. (Reuters)
The logo of Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 17, 2021. (Reuters)

Alphabet's Google violated a software developer's patent rights with its remote-streaming technology and must pay $338.7 million in damages, a federal jury in Waco, Texas decided on Friday.

The jury found that Google's Chromecast and other devices infringe patents owned by Touchstream Technologies related to streaming videos from one screen to another, a court representative said on Monday.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said on Monday that the company will appeal the verdict and has "always developed technology independently and competed on the merits of our ideas."

Attorneys for New York-based Touchstream did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Touchstream, which also does business as Shodogg, said in its 2021 lawsuit that founder David Strober invented technology in 2010 to "move" videos from a small device like a smartphone to a larger device like a television.

According to the complaint, Google met with Touchstream about its technology in December 2011 but said it was not interested two months later. Google introduced its Chromecast media-streaming devices in 2013.

Touchstream said that Google's Chromecast copied its innovations and infringed three of its patents. It also said its patents were infringed by Google's Home and Nest smart speakers and third-party televisions and speakers with Chromecast capabilities.

Google denied infringing Touchstream's rights and argued that the patents are invalid.

Touchstream filed similar complaints against cable providers Comcast, Charter and Altice in Texas earlier this year. Those cases are still pending.



Trump Media to Merge with Nuclear Fusion Company that Wants to Power AI

FILE - The download screen for Truth Social app is seen on a laptop computer, March 20, 2024, in New York.  (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
FILE - The download screen for Truth Social app is seen on a laptop computer, March 20, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
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Trump Media to Merge with Nuclear Fusion Company that Wants to Power AI

FILE - The download screen for Truth Social app is seen on a laptop computer, March 20, 2024, in New York.  (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
FILE - The download screen for Truth Social app is seen on a laptop computer, March 20, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Trump Media & Technology will merge with a fusion power company in an all-stock deal that the companies said Thursday is valued at more than $6 billion.

Devin Nunes, the Republican congressman who resigned in 2021 to become the CEO of Trump Media, will be co-CEO of the new company with TAE Technologies CEO Michl Binderbauer.

The combined company says it plans to find a site and begin construction next year on the “world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant,” with aims to provide the electricity needed for artificial intelligence.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology, the parent company of President Donald Trump's Truth Social media platform, have tumbled 70% this year but jumped 20% before the opening bell Thursday.

Backed by Google and other investors, TAE is a private company and the merger with Trump Media would create one of the first publicly traded nuclear fusion companies.

“We’re taking a big step forward toward a revolutionary technology that will cement America’s global energy dominance for generations," The Associated Press quoted Nunes as saying in a prepared statement.

TAE focuses on nuclear fusion, a technology that combines two light atomic nuclei to form a single heavier one. It releases enormous amount of energy, a process that occurs on the sun and other stars, according to the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency. It's been seen as a promising solution to climate change caused by burning fossil fuels, but one that is a long way off compared to today's clean technologies like wind and solar.

TAE and Trump Media shareholders will each own approximately 50% of the combined company.

Trump is by far the largest stakeholder in Trump Media, owning 41% of all outstanding shares.

In October, the US Department of Energy released what it called a “roadmap” for fusion technology, with the aim of fostering “a burgeoning fusion private sector industry in the US toward maturity on the most rapid timeline.”

A number of tech companies, including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have shown interest in fusion technology as a way of powering the energy-hungry data centers needed to build and run their AI products.

TAE and Trump Media say the transaction values each TAE common stock at $53.89 per share.

At closing, Trump Media & Technology Group will be the holding company for Truth Social and TAE, along with its subsidiaries TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences.


Brazil to Get Satellite Internet from Chinese Rival to Starlink in 2026

Brazil's new Chief of Staff of the Presidency Rui Costa attends a ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Brazil's new Chief of Staff of the Presidency Rui Costa attends a ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
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Brazil to Get Satellite Internet from Chinese Rival to Starlink in 2026

Brazil's new Chief of Staff of the Presidency Rui Costa attends a ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Brazil's new Chief of Staff of the Presidency Rui Costa attends a ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

Chinese low Earth orbit satellite company SpaceSail will start providing internet access to remote areas in Brazil in the first half of 2026, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's chief of staff, Rui Costa, said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

SpaceSail and Brazil's state-owned telecom Telebras had signed a memorandum of understanding in late 2024 to offer satellite internet services for schools, hospitals and other essential services in the South American country.

SpaceSail competes directly with Elon Musk's Starlink in the satellite internet market.


Google Launches First Ever Co-branded Credit Card in India

FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
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Google Launches First Ever Co-branded Credit Card in India

FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Alphabet Inc's Google Pay launched its first co-branded digital credit card in India on Wednesday in partnership with Axis Bank, intensifying efforts to monetize its massive user base in the country's crowded fintech sector.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

While Google Pay is a dominant player in India's popular domestic payments network, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), its core service generates zero revenue from user-to-user payments due to government mandates. It, however, earns commissions for in-app services like bill payments and mobile recharges, Reuters reported.

The credit card launch opens a new avenue for Google to monetize its user base, mirroring strategies by domestic rivals Paytm and PhonePe to cross-sell lending products to payment users.

BY THE NUMBERS

India has just 50 million credit card holders, according to Google Pay, whereas its population exceeds 1.4 billion.

Google Pay meanwhile is the second top app in India by number of UPI transactions, having processed nearly 7.2 billion transactions in October alone.

HOW IT WORKS

Axis Bank manages the credit risk and issuance, while the digital-only card will be linked to the Google Pay app to make online and offline payments on the go.