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Germany's BMW, India's Tata Tech to Jointly Develop Auto Software

A BMW iX xDrive40 is on display during the Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021, in Munich, Germany, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Michaela Rehl
A BMW iX xDrive40 is on display during the Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021, in Munich, Germany, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Michaela Rehl
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Germany's BMW, India's Tata Tech to Jointly Develop Auto Software

A BMW iX xDrive40 is on display during the Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021, in Munich, Germany, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Michaela Rehl
A BMW iX xDrive40 is on display during the Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021, in Munich, Germany, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Michaela Rehl

BMW Group and Tata Technologies will form a joint venture to develop automotive software for the German luxury carmaker, the Indian engineering services company said on Tuesday.
India is a software development hub for global automakers and auto parts makers including Volvo and Magna International, while also witnessing rising investments from companies including Toyota Motor and Mercedes Benz to boost production, Reuters reported.
The BMW-Tata Technologies venture, the first partnership between the two, will develop automotive software for automated driving and the dashboard system among other features, the Tata company said but didn't disclose any financial details of the agreement.
The BMW Group and Tata Technologies will each hold a 50% stake in the newly-formed company, it added.
BMW has a manufacturing plant in the southern Indian city Chennai, and gets its engines in the country from Force Motors , while TVS Motor helps make the German company's motorcycles.
The joint venture will operate in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Pune and will commence operations with 100 employees, Tata Technologies said.
Tata Technologies, a unit of India's top carmaker by revenue Tata Motors, provides engineering and technology services to auto, aero and heavy machinery firms including Honda , Ford and Airbus.
Its shares were up more than 7% after the announcement, before trimming some gains.
The company went public in November last year to become the first Tata Group company to launch an initial public offering in nearly two decades. Its shares have more-than-doubled from its listing price.

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Google Offers to Loosen Search Deals in US Antitrust Case Remedy

The Google sign is shown on one of the company's office buildings in Irvine, California, US, October 20, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The Google sign is shown on one of the company's office buildings in Irvine, California, US, October 20, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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Google Offers to Loosen Search Deals in US Antitrust Case Remedy

The Google sign is shown on one of the company's office buildings in Irvine, California, US, October 20, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The Google sign is shown on one of the company's office buildings in Irvine, California, US, October 20, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Alphabet's Google proposed on Friday a loosening of its agreements with Apple and others to set Google as the default search engine on new devices, in a bid to address a US ruling that it unlawfully dominates online search.

The proposal is muchu narrower than the government's push to make Google sell its Chrome browser, which Google called a drastic attempt to intervene in the search market.

Google urged US District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington to move cautiously in deciding what the company must do to restore competition, after his ruling that the company holds an illegal monopoly in online search and related advertising. Courts have cautioned against imposing antitrust remedies that chill innovation, Google said in court papers.

That is especially true "in an environment where remarkable artificial intelligence innovations are rapidly changing how people interact with many online products and services, including search engines," Google said.

While Google plans to appeal that ruling at the end of the case, it says the upcoming "remedies" phase should focus on its distribution agreements with browser developers, mobile device manufacturers, and wireless carriers.

The judge found the agreements give Google a "major, largely unseen advantage over its rivals" and result in most devices in the US coming pre-loaded with Google's search engine.

The agreements are hard to exit, the judge said, especially for Android manufacturers, which must agree to install Google search in order to include Google's Play Store on their devices.

To fix that, Google could make them non-exclusive and, for Android phone manufacturers, unbundle its Play Store from Chrome and search, the company said in its proposal.

Google would allow browser developers that agree to set its search engine as the default to revisit that decision annually under the proposal.

REVENUE SHARING

Unlike the government's proposal, Google's would not end revenue sharing agreements, which pass a portion of ad revenue Google makes from search to the device and software companies that present it as the default search engine.

Independent browser developers including Mozilla, which makes Firefox, have said the funds are crucial to their operations. Apple received an estimated $20 billion from its agreement with Google in 2022 alone.

Kamyl Bazbaz, spokesperson for search engine competitor DuckDuckGo, said the proposal attempts to maintain the status quo.

"Once a court finds a violation of competition laws, the remedy must not only stop the illegal conduct and prevent its recurrence, but restore competition in the affected markets," he said.

Google's proposal sets the stage for a trial Mehta will hold in April, where the US Department of Justice and a coalition of states will seek to show the need for wide-ranging remedies, including making Google sell off Chrome and potentially its Android mobile operating system.

The government plans to call witnesses from OpenAI, AI search startup Perplexity, and Microsoft, according to court papers.

Prosecutors also want Google to stop paying to be the default search engine, and cease investments in search rivals and query-based AI products, and license its search results and technology to rivals.

The proposals aim to spur innovation in online search, where Mehta found Google's overwhelming market share keeps competitors from gathering the search data needed to improve their products, and prevent Google from extending its dominance in search to AI.