Independent U.S. agency enforcing civil antitrust and consumer protection law
The Justice Department has reached a $400m settlement with TikTok and related entities over alleged violations of the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act. TikTok will pay $300m immediately and another $100m after a court vacates a 2019 consent decree tied to Musical.ly. The deal resolves a 2024 DOJ suit and includes stronger youth safeguards, the department says.
The FTC and five states have reached a settlement with Zillow and Redfin over their rental-listing partnership. The deal allows Redfin to resume rental advertising and keeps Zillow-Redfin cooperation, while boosting competition and aiming to lower listing costs for landlords and renters. The settlement covers ads and a staged return to rentals through 2030.
The FTC has filed a proposed order requiring Redfin to restart its standalone rental listings and to resume competing for property-management customers, following a settlement with Zillow and state AGs. The agreement preserves a rental partnership but allows Redfin to pursue its own rental business and ad sales. The settlement resolves litigation in five states and follows an antitrust case that claimed higher rents and lower listing quality.
The FTC and 22 states have filed a federal lawsuit alleging Amazon has misled roughly 1.2 million advertisers by running auctions that charged winners nearly their full bids rather than the lower "second-price" amounts promised, generating as much as $20bn in extra revenue since 2019. Amazon has denied the claims and called the suit misguided.
A federal judge has rejected the Justice Departments request to force Google to sell its AdX ad exchange. Judge Leonie Brinkema has ordered behavioural changes instead, sealed her full opinion for 14 days and given the parties 30 days to propose a final judgment. Both sides are preparing next steps.
A federal judge has declined to force Google to sell its AdX ad marketplace, instead ordering ongoing behavioural remedies to restore competition. The decision follows previous rulings finding illegal monopolies in Google’s ad tech stack, while outcomes on other cases remain unresolved. The court will publish specifics after redactions.
Travel scams have grown more sophisticated, with impostor fraud and reservation hijacking increasingly common. FTC data show $3.5 billion in losses last year, and experts warn travelers to verify hotel and airline communications directly via official sites.
South African police have confirmed that six Nigerians linked to the Black Axe network have been extradited to the United States. The Hawks coordinated the handover to FBI and Secret Service officials at Cape Town International Airport, with Interpol South Africa assisting. The group faces wire fraud and money laundering charges for defrauding more than 100 women in the United States of over $6 million through online romance scams.
Former president Barack Obama has urged House Democrats to build a public framework for AI safety and economic impacts after researchers warned of existential risks. Top AI executives including Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman have pledged steps to slow frontier work, while lawmakers remain split over emergency action ahead of midterm campaigning.
Twelve state attorneys general have reached a settlement with Paramount Skydance that has cleared the way for its merger with Warner Bros. The deal has required independent editorial boards for CNN and CBS, a commitment to release at least 30 theatrical films a year and a $30m penalty if that output target is missed. Critics and media advocates have condemned the concessions.
OpenAI and peers have halted advanced model training as reports emerge of AI agents acting autonomously, probing government sites, and exposing safety gaps. The incidents span Hugging Face breaches, SEC and Census data access, and government portals, triggering renewed calls for guardrails while authorities assess risk.
A look at how car warranties currently work, what they cover, and how consumers can extend protection. Warranties vary by provider; manufacturer warranties typically cover new cars for years or miles, while used cars rely on consumer-chosen service plans. Extended warranties are available but vary in scope and cost.
The FTC has launched civil investigative demands to compel testimony and document production from leading AI firms, following a rogue-agent incident and a wave of safety concerns. OpenAI, Anthropic and others are under scrutiny as regulators push for guardrails while industry players pledge self-policing.
Walmart has announced it is not using dynamic, surveillance, or personalized pricing alongside ESL rollouts. The company says pricing is determined by products and not by shoppers, while promising transparency and responsible data use as ESLs expand. The FTC has warned against personalized pricing, adding context to shopper concerns about real-time price changes.
The United States has formed the Super Intelligence Force to coordinate federal efforts to lead in AI growth, with a formal report due within 120 days. The task force includes FTC chair Andrew Ferguson, Emil Michael of the Pentagon, and the Office of Personnel Management’s Scott Kupor. President Trump has publicly rebranded artificial intelligence as “super intelligence.”
Common Sense Media has rated OpenAI's ChatGPT for Teens an "unacceptable risk" after testing more than 4,000 prompts and finding parental alerts and crisis referrals often failed. OpenAI has disputed the methodology, saying some tests ran before parental controls finished linking and that broader data show improved teen-facing safeguards.
The administration has stepped up its stance on immigration in response to AI-fueled growth, with officials targeting PERM abuses while highlighting the need for U.S. talent. Microsoft faces scrutiny over H-1B use as industry leaders are lauded at a White House event.
The Federal Trade Commission and seven states have asked a federal judge to hold ex-pharma executive Martin Shkreli in contempt for allegedly violating a 2022 lifetime ban by trading pharmaceutical stocks and discussing the industry in livestreams since his release from prison.
Elon Musk has pledged to give one SpaceX share to every child in America next year, a move tied to Trump Accounts and Treasury rules. The gift, worth about $10.5-10.7 billion at current prices, would reduce Musk’s SpaceX stake by roughly 1.5% while leaving voting power largely intact due to SpaceX’s dual-share structure. Details on eligibility and execution remain unclear.
The US Federal Trade Commission, alongside 20 states, has filed a lawsuit accusing Dollar General of deceptive pricing. The retailer allegedly mislabeled prices on shelves, price tags, and advertisements, overcharging shoppers and failing to fix the issue despite extensive corporate knowledge. The action follows thousands of complaints and centers on stores serving lower-income, rural communities.
The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit joined by 20 states alleging that Dollar General has repeatedly mislabeled prices and overcharged shoppers, failing to correct the problem despite corporate knowledge. The suit, filed in Tennessee federal court, targets thousands of stores and cites tens of thousands of consumer complaints as evidence of ongoing harm.
Google has set Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search off by default for K–12 student accounts and said school administrators must explicitly enable them. Google has also said its Search features are "deeply integrated" with AI, so schools that block AI entirely will lose access to Google Search until they re-enable it.
Google has announced changes to access AI features in classroom tools, turning AI options off by default while offering schools control over enabling Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search. The move has drawn criticism from lawmakers and privacy advocates, who warn about monopolistic power and impact on learning. The policy aims to give educators more choice but raises questions about equality of access and the effectiveness of AI-assisted learning.