The EU has announced investigations into some of the world’s largest technology firms for uncompetitive practices.
Alphabet, which owns Google, Meta, and Apple, is being investigated for potential violations of the Digital Markets Act, which was introduced in 2022.
If they are found to have broken the rules, the companies may face large fines of up to 10% of their annual revenue.
Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Alphabet is the world’s third-largest technology company by revenue and one of the world’s most valuable companies. It was created through a restructuring of Google on October 2, 2015, and became the parent company of Google and several former Google subsidiaries. It is considered one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.
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The establishment of Alphabet Inc. was prompted by a desire to make the core Google business “cleaner and more accountable” while allowing greater autonomy to group companies that operate in businesses other than Internet services. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced their resignation from their executive posts in December 2019, with the CEO role to be filled by Sundar Pichai, also the CEO of Google. Page and Brin remain employees, board members, and controlling shareholders of Alphabet Inc
Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust commissioner, and Thierry Breton, the industry’s head, announced the investigations on Monday.
It comes three weeks after the EU fined Apple €1.8bn , £1.5bn, for breaking competition laws over music streaming.
