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Microsoft Singles Out Google's Competitive Edge in Generative AI

FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Microsoft Singles Out Google's Competitive Edge in Generative AI

FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Alphabet unit Google enjoys a competitive edge in generative artificial intelligence due to its trove of data and AI-optimized chips, Microsoft has told EU antitrust regulators, underscoring the rivalry between the two tech giants.
The comments by Microsoft were in response to a consultation launched by the European Commission in January on the level of competition in generative AI, Reuters reported.
The growing popularity of generative AI, which can generate human-like responses to written prompts and is exemplified by Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's chatbot Gemini, has triggered concerns about misinformation and fake news.
"Today, only one company - Google - is vertically integrated in a manner that provides it with strength and independence at every AI layer from chips to a thriving mobile app store. Everyone else must rely on partnerships to innovate and compete," Microsoft said in its report to the Commission.
It said Google's self-supply AI semiconductors would give it a competitive advantage for the years to come, while its large sets of proprietary data from Google Search Index and YouTube enabled it to train its large language model Gemini.
"YouTube provides an unparalleled set of video content; it hosts an estimated 14 billion videos. Google has access to such content; but other AI developers do not," Microsoft said.
It said AI-powered voice assistants such as Google's Google Assistant and Apple's Siri give both companies an advantage.
"They are well-positioned to evolve and leverage their respective existing voice assistants into leadership positions in generative AI. New entrants and competitors of Google and Apple will not enjoy the same advantages," Microsoft said.
Google hit back at Microsoft.
"We hope the Commission's study will shine a light on companies that don't offer the openness of Google Cloud or have a long history of locking-in customers - and who are bringing that same approach to AI services," a Google spokesperson said.
Microsoft, whose more than $10 billion investment in OpenAI is now in EU antitrust regulators' crosshairs, also sought to fend off regulatory worries about such partnerships between Big Tech and start-ups.
"All of these start-ups relied on different forms of investments and partnerships that enabled them to enter and expand in the space," it said.
It pointed to Anthropic which has Google and Amazon as investors, France's Mistral in which Microsoft has invested 15 million euros and Canada's Cohere which has Salesforce and Nvidia as investors.
"Encouraging pro-competitive partnerships in the AI space is an effective way to prevent companies from becoming vertically integrated in a manner that would result in an anticompetitive advantage," Microsoft said.

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Technology

Sony Says to Stop Releasing PlayStation Games on Discs

French PlayStation' collector Cyril, poses with a PlayStaion 1, at his home in Vraiville, on November 20, 2024. (AFP)
French PlayStation' collector Cyril, poses with a PlayStaion 1, at his home in Vraiville, on November 20, 2024. (AFP)
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Sony Says to Stop Releasing PlayStation Games on Discs

French PlayStation' collector Cyril, poses with a PlayStaion 1, at his home in Vraiville, on November 20, 2024. (AFP)
French PlayStation' collector Cyril, poses with a PlayStaion 1, at his home in Vraiville, on November 20, 2024. (AFP)

Sony said Wednesday that it would stop releasing new video games for the PlayStation on disc in January 2028 following a shift in consumer preferences.

"Following this date, new games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only," the company said on its official PlayStation blog.

Sony said the upcoming shift "has no impact on games that already released, or will be releasing, prior to January 2028 in disc format."

The announcement comes as the upcoming exclusively digital release of "Grand Theft Auto VI", which is predicted to become the biggest-selling cultural product of all time, has caused some consternation among gamers.

There was grumbling on social media that the lack of a physical disc would eliminate any second-hand market for the title.

"This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs," the company said.

"We remain committed to delivering a world-class gaming experience to our fans," it added.

Technology

Fear and Anger Brew Inside Meta amid AI Frenzy

The word "Hack" is seen in this aerial view of Meta's corporate headquarter offices in Menlo Park, California. JOSH EDELSON / AFP
The word "Hack" is seen in this aerial view of Meta's corporate headquarter offices in Menlo Park, California. JOSH EDELSON / AFP
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Fear and Anger Brew Inside Meta amid AI Frenzy

The word "Hack" is seen in this aerial view of Meta's corporate headquarter offices in Menlo Park, California. JOSH EDELSON / AFP
The word "Hack" is seen in this aerial view of Meta's corporate headquarter offices in Menlo Park, California. JOSH EDELSON / AFP

A frenzied push for artificial intelligence dominance comes with a different kind of cost for Meta, where massive layoffs, employee surveillance and departures have fueled reports of a heated internal climate.

As Meta spends billions annually to build out its AI capabilities, employees at Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are increasingly unhappy with their Mark Zuckerberg-led parent company, AFP reported.

Meta employees have weathered frequent layoffs since early 2025, including this spring when the company cut 10 percent of its workforce -- some 8,000 jobs -- and reshuffled another 7,000 employees.

For those who remain, an internal AI training initiative has drawn accusations of surveillance.

The company also underwent a major reorganization of its AI research division, into which Zuckerberg, Meta's founder and chief executive, has poured billions of dollars.

The malaise stands in stark contrast to Meta's robust finances -- driven by advertising, which makes up nearly 98 percent of its revenue. In the first three months of 2026, Meta's net income rose to more than $26 billion.

However, the bill for its AI investments is also exploding, prompting Zuckerberg, who has near-absolute power over the company, to impose sweeping cuts and increased monitoring of employees in the name of efficiency and savings.

The cuts are funding a massive race for infrastructure: Meta plans to spend up to $145 billion on AI investments this year, nearly twice last year's figure.

Harvesting data

After thousands of employees were reassigned to Meta's AI division, some, speaking anonymously to US media, have complained of "mind-numbing" tasks designed to train machines, or even automate away their own jobs.

That controversial program, called the Model Capability Initiative, was rolled out in April and suspended on June 22. It captured clicks, keystrokes and browsing activity of US employees to train AI agents -- software capable of independently performing tasks.

Zuckerberg, who has made AI the company's North Star, defended the program during an internal meeting: "AI models learn by watching really smart people do things," he said, according to Wired.

But the tool sparked a revolt. More than 1,600 employees signed a petition calling for it to end, with some likening the company to a "data extraction factory," according to media reports.

The pause came after private conversations, and performance data inadvertently became accessible to all staff. The system risked drawing the attention of European regulators, since it captured exchanges between employees on both continents.

In a statement to AFP Tuesday, a Meta spokesperson said the program was designed with privacy safeguards.

"While we have no indication at this time that any data was improperly accessed by Meta employees, we're pausing it while we investigate," the statement said.

One employee summed up the mood with a meme from "The Office," posted on an internal company forum, reading: "0 days since our last nonsense."

'Dead end quest'

All of these efforts aim to make up for a persistent lag behind Google, OpenAI and Anthropic, which dominate the race for cutting-edge AI models. Meta's own models, repeatedly delayed, have proved disappointing even internally.

To regain ground, Zuckerberg invested over $14 billion last year into Scale AI, a San Francisco-based startup, and poached its CEO Alexandr Wang -- who was 28 years old at the time -- to run a "superintelligence" lab inside Meta.

The expensive bet has yet to win people over. Several key figures have since walked out, among them Yann LeCun, considered one of the "godfathers" of modern AI, who had led Meta's AI research since 2013.

LeCun suddenly found himself reporting to Wang, more than 35 years his junior. He left Meta at the end of 2025 to launch his own startup.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the Turing Award winner lamented that, although "he learns fast," Wang has "no experience with research" and was on "a dead end" quest.

The stakes for Meta go beyond its social networks now. The company is also doubling down on consumer electronics with smart glasses and is considering a new prediction-market app called Arena, potentially in partnership with Polymarket and Kalshi, according to The New York Times.

Lawsuits also threaten to consume time and resources.

For the first time, a Los Angeles jury in March found Meta liable for the effects of social media addiction, just one day after a separate ruling in New Mexico said Meta had failed to protect minors.

Meta has appealed, but more lawsuits are expected this year.

Technology

South Korean Trade Watchdog Alleges Google Abused Its Position in Android App Store

A pedestrian walks past the Google offices in London, Britain, August 14, 2025. (Reuters)
A pedestrian walks past the Google offices in London, Britain, August 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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South Korean Trade Watchdog Alleges Google Abused Its Position in Android App Store

A pedestrian walks past the Google offices in London, Britain, August 14, 2025. (Reuters)
A pedestrian walks past the Google offices in London, Britain, August 14, 2025. (Reuters)

South Korea's antitrust regulator alleged on Wednesday that Alphabet's Google abused its dominant position in the Android app marketplace to hinder competition and will recommend corrective measures and a financial penalty.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission's (KFTC) Market Surveillance Bureau found Google's alleged abuse of market dominance in the Android app marketplace affected 14.16 trillion won ($9.1 billion) in revenue, the bureau said in a media briefing where it released its examiner's report on the matter.

From July ‌2019 to March ‌2026, Google's Games/Google Velocity Program, which it ‌internally ⁠called "Project Hug", offered domestic ⁠and overseas game developers financial support for using Google services such as Cloud, Ads and YouTube, provided that they launched games on Google's app store on terms at least as favorable as rival app marketplaces, the report said.

The contracts were also structured so that Google's financial ⁠support increased progressively as developers generated more ‌revenue through Google Play, creating ‌stronger incentives to prioritize Google's marketplace.

The program significantly reduced developers' ‌incentives to distribute games through competing app stores, including South ‌Korea's OneStore, blocking rivals' business activities and forcing developers into de facto exclusive dealing with Google, according to the report.

"Google Play competes fairly with other app stores and delivers numerous benefits ‌to developers and consumers in Korea.

"We have cooperated diligently with the KFTC's investigation, and ⁠we will ⁠continue to show the Commissioners that there has been no violation of the law,” Google said in a statement to Reuters.

If the commission ultimately concludes that Google abused its market dominance, it may impose a fine of up to 6% of the relevant affected revenue of $9.1 billion.

Google has eight weeks from receiving the examiner's report to submit a written response and review the evidence.

The bureau said it plans to convene the full commission and issue a final ruling promptly once Google's due process rights have been fully observed.