A US judge just ordered Google to make its ad tech tools interoperable with competitors, share ad auction data and accept an internal monitor, in a ruling that had been sealed until this week. That’s a real structural remedy, not a fine Google can treat as a cost of doing business.
Two more cases landed the same week. A judge ordered X and Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI to explain why they dropped antitrust claims against Apple, after OpenAI asked for details on what looks like an agreement between the two companies. In India, Gujarat police say they’ll question Google after a criminal network used more than half a million Gmail accounts to send hoax bomb threats to government offices, a scheme that’s apparently been running since 2022.
Courts are doing something legislatures mostly aren’t right now, which is actually forcing tech companies to change how they operate rather than just paying for the privilege of not changing. Whether that holds once appeals start is a separate question. For the moment, the judiciary looks like the most functional check on platform power in the room.
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