Google has lost a biggie…the antitrust trial over its massive search business. Arstechnica.com reports that US District Judge Amit Mehta issued his ruling, and he sided with the Department of Justice. “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta wrote in his opinion. “It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.” This won’t just affect Google….Apple has been paying billions …$26 billion in 2021 alone…to Google for it to be the default search engine on Apple devices. Deals like with Apple shut out Bing and DuckDuckGo, since with the Apple deal, Google search was the default on both Android and Apple. In a consolation victory to Google, the judge did rule that Google didn’t have monopoly power in search advertising. 

Nvidia’s AI team allegedly scraped YouTube and Netflix videos without permission as it trained its AI. According to engadget.com, the company asked workers to download YouTube and Netflix videos and other datasets to develop their commercial AI systems like its Omnivores 3D world generator, self-driving car systems and a ‘digital human’. Nvidia claims they are within the law, but YouTube doesn’t agree, calling the action a ‘clear violation’ of its terms. To evade detection from YouTube, Nvidia downloaded content using virtual machines with rotating IP addresses to avoid bans. 

Nest has unveiled its totally redesigned Learning Thermostat…this one is the 4th generation. Even the design is a bit different. Probably more importantly, theverge.com notes that it works with the smart home standard Matter. That means you aren’t tied to Google or their app, but can use Apple Home if you happen to be an Apple user. Besides the coat of paint and some new features, the new, more pricy Nest comes with more hardware…it has the Nest Temperature sensor 2nd Gen included…so if, like me, you have 2 levels, you can let the thermostat keep both at the temperature you prefer, without having to kind of fool it to get it to a happy medium. The new Nest is available for preorder now at $279.99 from the Google Store. It ships August 20th. 

TikTok is dropping its controversial Lite Rewards program in the EU to comply with the Digital Services Act. Thenextweb.com reports that TikTok Lite is the data-light versions of the app to be used on slow internet connections and on gadgets with small memory availability. The Rewards program allows users to earn points by liking content, watching videos, following creators, and inviting friends to TikTok. The points can be exchanged for rewards like Amazon vouchers. Basically, they are rewarding longer screen time with financial incentives. The European Union has now closed this case under the DSA, but there is another ongoing case against TikTok in Europe. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.