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This is the boldest move the Biden administration has taken to police mergers, says fmr. FTC chairman

The Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday it has filed an antitrust case against Microsoft to challenge the software maker’s attempt to acquire video game publisher Activision Blizzard, claiming it would violate U.S. law.

This isn’t Microsoft’s first time dealing with competitive pressure. In 1998 the U.S. Justice Department filed a broad antitrust case against the company. Microsoft changed some practices related to its Windows operating system business as a result. Regulators in the United Kingdom are looking into whether the Activision Blizzard acquisition would lessen competition in the country.

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Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in January, with the goal of closing it by June 2023. The deal has come under pressure from Microsoft’s competitors in gaming, such as Sony. Microsoft has repeatedly said it won’t be the world’s leader in gaming if the deal were to close, and it has vowed to provide popular “Call of Duty” games on gaming platforms other than those owned by Microsoft.

“We continue to believe that this deal will expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president, said in a statement. “We have been committed since Day One to addressing competitive concerns, including by offering earlier this week proposed concessions to the FTC. While we believed in giving peace a chance, we have complete confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present our case in court.”

FTC commissioners voted 3-1 to move forward with the agency’s administrative complaint, which will go before the FTC’s internal administrative law judge. In that process, the ALJ makes an initial decision after a trial-like proceeding. The respondent or FTC staff serving as “complaint counsel” can choose to appeal the initial decision to the full commission for a vote. After that, the respondent could still ask a federal appeals court to review the commission’s order.

“With control of Activision’s content, Microsoft would have the ability and increased incentive to withhold or degrade Activision’s content in ways that substantially lessen competition — including competition on product quality, price, and innovation,” the FTC said in its complaint. “This loss of competition would likely result in significant harm to consumers in multiple markets at a pivotal time for the industry.”

FTC sues Microsoft over proposed Activision deal

In the statement, the FTC said Microsoft has a record, including with its 2021 ZeniMax deal, of buying games and using the moves to suppress competition from other companies that make consoles. Microsoft promised the European Commission antitrust officials that the company wouldn’t have an incentive to stop people from playin ZeniMax games on consoles other than the Xbox, but after the European Commission permitted the deal to proceed, Microsoft announced that it was making ZeniMax games such as Elder Scrolls VI, Redfall and Starfield into exclusives, the FTC said in its suit.

The FTC said Activision Blizzard has brought its games to a variety of devices, irrespective of their manufacturers, but that might change if Microsoft were to complete the deal. Microsoft could adjust prices or worsen the experience on competing hardware such as Sony PlayStation consoles, or keep Activision Blizzard consoles from reaching consoles other than Microsoft Xbox systems, the agency said.

Microsoft does offer titles that are exclusive to the Xbox, and in October Phil Spencer, CEO of gaming at Microsoft, pointed out that Sony has its own set of exclusive franchises, but over time Microsoft has brought games such as Minecraft to other devices. He argued that it’s important for more people, not less, to play games the company owns.

Microsoft is seeking to add subscribers to its Game Pass service that provides access to hundreds of games. The Game Pass Ultimate subscription tier also allows people to play games that stream from Microsoft data centers on a variety of devices, including smartphones.

The FTC said in its case that the proposed acquisition is reasonably likely to reduce competition or bring about monopolies in the markets for gaming subscription services, cloud gaming and high-performance consoles.

“We want Call of Duty to be enjoyed by more players around the world. That requires COD being on diverse platforms after the merger of Microsoft + Activision Blizzard,” Lulu Cheng Meservey, Activision’s executive vice president for corporate affairs and communications chief, said in a tweet.

The lawsuit represents a major milestone for FTC Chair Lina Khan, who has long signaled aggressive action on tech. While her tenure has included a lawsuit seeking to block Facebook owner Meta from acquiring a virtual reality fitness app developer, the lawsuit seeking to block the Microsoft-Activision deal is notable for its scale, as the largest technology transaction to date.

Khan and her counterpart at the Justice Department’s antitrust division, Jonathan Kanter, have said they want the agencies to become more comfortable with taking big swings, adding that a high win record in court likely means they aren’t challenging enough cases.

Federal enforcers have seen a string of losses in merger challenges in recent months, with the exception of one significant win by the Department of Justice in its case against Penguin Random House’s proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster.

The FTC’s administrative law judge rejected the commission’s challenge of Illumina’s proposed acquisition of Grail in the biotech space, though the FTC said it will appeal that ruling. The Antitrust Division has also said it’s appealing or considering appealing the three merger cases it lost so far: UnitedHealth Group-Change Healthcare, US Sugar-Imperial Sugar and Booz Allen Hamilton-EverWatch.

Smith previewed Microsoft’s arguments against blocking the deal in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published earlier this week, saying it would be a “huge mistake.”

“Microsoft faces huge challenges in the gaming industry,” Smith wrote, adding that its Xbox console gaming system is in third place behind Sony’s PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch. Microsoft also has “no meaningful presence in the mobile game industry,” he said. He pointed attention toward Apple and Google, saying that while mobile gaming is a fast growing and high revenue segment, those two app store operators take a “significant portion” of those earnings through their fees on developers.

Activision Blizzard does have a place on mobile devices thanks to its 2016 acquisition of King, which publishes the Candy Crush Saga game. The Candy Crush franchise has over 200 million monthly active users, Activision Blizzard said in November.

Smith noted that Microsoft’s purchase of Activision would let it compete effectively in the gaming industry, spurring innovation and helping customers. He downplayed concerns voiced by competitors such as Sony, saying the company is “as excited about this deal as Blockbuster was about the rise of Netflix.”

Activision Blizzard shares reached a session low of $73 per share after the FTC announced its case. Microsoft had agreed to pay $95 per share.

Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard’s CEO, told employees in a memo that the assertion that the deal is anti-competitive doesn’t match with the facts.

“Simply put, a combined Microsoft-ABK will be good for players, good for employees, good for competition and good for the industry,” he wrote. “Our players want choice, and this gives them exactly that.”

Politico reported last month that the FTC was likely to try to block the deal.

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Trump Organization scraps ‘made in the USA’ tag for its gold T1 smartphone

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Trump Organization scraps 'made in the USA' tag for its gold T1 smartphone

US President Donald Trump uses a cellphone aboard Marine One before it departs Leesburg Executive Airport in Leesburg, Virginia, on April 24, 2025. Trump is returning to the White House after attending a MAGA, Inc. dinner at the Trump National Golf Club Washington, DC.

Alex Wroblewski | AFP | Getty Images

The Trump Organization scrapped a reference that its recently revealed smartphone will be made in the U.S., amid doubts that such a device can be manufactured on American shores at its price tag.

A spokesperson for the Trump Organization, which is owned by U.S. President Donald Trump, nevertheless maintained the handset would be made in the U.S.

This month, the Trump Organization introduced the T1, a gold-colored device set to retail for $499. At the time of the announcement, a banner on the homepage of the company’s website said: “Our MADE IN THE USA ‘T1 Phone’ is available for pre-order now.”

The reference to where the phone will be produced has been completely removed. The change was first noted by The Verge.

The T1’s webpage now says the phone has “American-Proud Design” and is “brought to life right here in the USA” — though it’s unclear if that means it will actually be manufactured in America.

When the T1 was initially announced, experts told CNBC the device would likely be made in China by a local third-party company. The U.S. does not have an advanced supply chain to manufacture smartphones. Even if it did, many components would still need to come from overseas.

However, in a statement to USA TODAY, Trump Mobile Spokesperson Chris Walker, said that “T1 phones are proudly being made in America.”

“Speculation to the contrary is simply inaccurate,” Walker said.

The language about manufacturing location is not the only thing that has changed on the T1 website. Some of the features and specs of the device have also been updated.

In the initial announcement, the Trump Mobile website said the T1 would have a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen. That has now been reduced to 6.25-inch AMOLED display. A reference to the device having 12 gigabytes of random access memory (RAM), has also been dropped.

It’s an unusual move for a smartphone company to change the specs of a device after it has been announced.

CNBC has reached out to the Trump Organization about the changes in language regarding the device being manufactured in the U.S., as well as amendments to the phones specs.

Trump has made reshoring manufacturing in tech a key priority. While his initial attention was on getting semiconductor manufacturing capacity built up, the White House leader has turned his sights on smartphones. He has also poured scrutiny on Apple‘s supply chain, urging the iPhone maker to manufacture its flagship handset in the U.S. 

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Blacklisted by the U.S. and backed by Beijing, this Chinese AI startup has caught OpenAI’s attention

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Blacklisted by the U.S. and backed by Beijing, this Chinese AI startup has caught OpenAI's attention

The Zhipu AI logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen.

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OpenAI is putting a spotlight on an under-the-radar artificial intelligence startup that it believes is on the “front line” of China’s race to lead the world in AI — and its not DeepSeek. 

In a blog post on Wednesday, the company wrote that Beijing-backed Zhipu AI has made “notable progress” in the AI race, as global competition ramps up.

Zhipu AI, founded in 2019, has been referred by domestic media as one of China’s “AI tigers” — a class of large language model unicorns seen as key to Beijing’s efforts to rival the U.S. and reduce its dependence on American technology

While fellow “AI tiger” DeepSeek has received the lion’s share of international attention after it released its R1 model in January, OpenAI suggests that Zhipu’s expansion outside China and its ties to Beijing deserve more scrutiny. 

The startup has raised funds from several local governments, according to state media. “Zhipu AI leadership frequently engages with CCP officials, including Premier Li Qiang,” OpenAI claimed, pegging the value of state-backed investments in the startup at over $1.4 billion.

Zhipu AI reportedly has offices in the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia, and is also running joint “innovation centers” projects across Southeast Asia, including in Indonesia and Vietnam.

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Those factors could see Zhipu AI playing a key role in China’s “Digital Silk Road” strategy, as it offers AI infrastructure solutions to governments around the world.

“The goal is to lock Chinese systems and standards into emerging markets before US or European rivals can, while showcasing a ‘responsible, transparent and audit-ready’ Chinese AI alternative,” OpenAI said. 

Zhipu AI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on OpenAI’s statements. However, last week, Zhipu AI Chairman Liu Debing told reporters that the company hoped to contribute China’s AI power to the world.

These aims represent a threat to OpenAI, which has received Washington’s support to promote its foundational models as the world’s go-to AI offering.

During a visit to the UAE in May, U.S. President Donald Trump announced over $200 billion in commercial deals in the region, including one for building a Stargate UAE AI campus by OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and Cisco Systems. It’s expected to be launched in 2026. 

The Stargate Project is a $500 billion AI-focused private sector investment vehicle, announced by OpenAI in January in partnership with Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX and Japan’s SoftBank.

This month, OpenAI was also awarded a $200 million contract to provide the U.S. Defense Department with artificial intelligence tools, and announced “OpenAI for Government,” an initiative aimed at bringing its AI tools to public servants across the U.S. 

Zhipu is also said to be working with its domestic military, helping China’s military to modernize through advanced artificial intelligence, which saw it added to the US Commerce Department’s Entity List in January.

The company has reportedly initiated preliminary steps toward launching an initial public offering. It has previously been valued at 20 billion yuan ($2.78 billion), according to local media reports.

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‘Cyber plague’: Experts warn of growing infostealer threat after billions of login details exposed

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'Cyber plague': Experts warn of growing infostealer threat after billions of login details exposed

“Someone, somewhere is having data exfiltrated from their machines as we speak,” says Volodymyr Diachenko, co-founder of the cybersecurity consultancy SecurityDiscovery.

Sarayut Thaneerat | Moment | Getty Images

Cybercriminals have intensified their efforts to steal and sell online passwords, experts warn. The alarm comes after the discovery of online datasets containing billions of exposed account credentials. 

The 30 datasets comprised a whopping 16 billion login credentials across multiple platforms, including Apple, Google and Facebook, and were first reported by Cybernews researchers last week. 

The exposures were identified over the course of this year by Volodymyr Diachenko, co-founder of the cybersecurity consultancy Security Discovery, and are suspected to be the work of multiple parties.

“This is a collection of various data sets that appeared on my radar since the beginning of the year, but they all share a common structure of URLs, login details and passwords,” Diachenko told CNBC. 

According to Daichenko, all signs point to the leaked login information being the work of “infostealers” — malware that extracts sensitive data from devices, including usernames and passwords, credit card information and online browser data. 

While the lists of logins are likely to contain many duplicates as well as outdated and incorrect information, the overwhelming volume of findings puts into perspective how much sensitive data is circulating on the web. 

It should also raise alarms on how infostealers have become the “cyber plague” of today, Daichenko said. “Someone, somewhere, is having data exfiltrated from their machines as we speak.”

Daichenko was able to detect the exposed data because their owners had temporarily indexed them on the web without a password lock. Inadvertently shared data leaks are often caught by Security Discovery, but not at scales seen so far this year.

Infostealer threats on the rise 

According to Simon Green, president of Asia-Pacific and Japan at Palo Alto Networks, the sheer scale of the 16 billion exposed credentials is alarming and certainly notable, but not entirely surprising for those on the front lines of cybersecurity. 

“Many modern infostealers are designed with advanced evasion techniques, allowing them to bypass traditional, signature-based security controls, making them harder to detect and stop,” he added.

Consequently, there’s been an uptick in high-profile infostealer attacks. For example, in March, Microsoft Threat Intelligence disclosed a malicious campaign using infostealers that had affected nearly 1 million devices globally. 

Infostealers typically gain access to victims’ devices by tricking them into downloading the malware, which can be hidden in everything from phishing emails to phony websites to search engine ads.

The motive behind infostealer attacks is usually financial, with attackers often looking to directly take over bank accounts, credit cards, and cryptocurrency wallets or commit identity fraud. 

Cybercriminals can use stolen credentials and other personal data for purposes such as crafting highly convincing, personalized phishing attacks and blackmailing individuals or organizations. 

According to Palo Alto’s Green, the scale and dangers of those types of infostealers have intensified, thanks to the growing prevalence of underground markets that offer “cybercrime-as-a-Service,” in which vendors charge customers for malicious tools, sensitive data and other illicit online services.

“Cyber crime-as-a-Service is the critical enabler here. It has fundamentally democratized cybercrime,” Green said.

Those underground markets — often hosted on the dark web — create demand for cybercriminals to steal personal information and then sell that to scammers. 

In that way, data breaches become about more than just the individual accounts — they represent a “vast, interconnected web of compromised identities” that can fuel subsequent attacks, Green said. 

According to Diachenko, it’s likely that at least some of the compromised login datasets he identified had or will be traded to online scammers. 

On top of that, malware kits and other resources that can help to facilitate infostealer attacks can be found on those markets. 

CNBC has reported on how the availability of those tools and services has significantly lowered technical barriers for aspiring criminals, allowing sophisticated attacks to be executed at a massive, global scale. 

The report found that infostealer attacks grew by 58% in 2024.

What can be done

With the increasing prevalence of malware and online usage, it’s now fair to assume that most people will, at some point, come in contact with an infostealer threat, said Ismael Valenzuela, vice president of threat research and intelligence at cybersecurity company Arctic Wolf.

In addition to frequent password updates, individuals will need to be more alert about the increasing amount of malware hiding in illegitimate software, applications and other downloadable files, Valenzuela said. He added that the use of multi-factor authentication on accounts has become more important than ever.

From a corporate perspective, it’s important to adopt a “zero trust architecture” that not only constantly authenticates the user, but also authenticates the device and user’s behavior, he added.  

Governments have also been doing more to crack down on infostealing activities in recent months.

In May, Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre said it had collaborated with Microsoft and global authorities to disrupt the “Lumma” infostealer, which it called “the world’s most significant infostealer threat.”

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