LONDON — Britain’s competition watchdog on Tuesday opened an investigation into Google search services, marking its first major probe under the country’s tough new competition rules.
The Competition and Markets Authority said that it’s looking to assess whether Google has “strategic market status” (SMS) under the new U.K. Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC).
The DMCC, which officially entered into effect on Jan. 1, aims to prevent anti-competitive behavior in digital markets. Designation of a company as having “SMS” would give the regulator the power to impose changes to prevent anti-competitive behavior.
Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive, said the regulator was probing Google’s dominance of the search market to ensure a “level playing field” — especially as artificial intelligence is shifting the way people search online.
“It’s our job to ensure people get the full benefit of choice and innovation in search services and get a fair deal — for example in how their data is collected and stored,” Cardell said.
“And for businesses, whether you are a rival search engine, an advertiser or a news organisation, we want to ensure there is a level playing field for all businesses, large and small, to succeed,” she added.
The CMA move follows a bid from the U.S. Department of Justice to force Google to divest its Chrome browser. The DOJ filed to break the internet giant up after finding it holds a monopoly in the search market.
The regulator on Tuesday highlighted Google’s dominant position in the U.K. search market as a primary point of concern.
Google accounts for more than 90% of all general search queries in the U.K., and more than 200,000 advertisers in the country use the firm’s search advertising tools, according to the CMA.
Search is “vital for economic growth,” the CMA said, explained that its role in connecting companies with other businesses, investors and customers means it is “critical” that competition works well.
“Google Search supports millions of U.K. businesses to grow by reaching customers in innovative ways. The CMA’s announcement today recognises that,” a Google spokesperson told CNBC via email.
“We will continue to engage constructively with the CMA to ensure that new rules benefit all types of websites, and still allow people in the U.K. to benefit from helpful and cutting edge services,” the Google spokesperson added.
The CMA added that effective competition in search was needed to ensure fair treatment of news publishers for the use of their content.
With new AI-based search methods like OpenAI and Perplexity emerging, the CMA said it is also concerned about Google’s position in the market potentially putting new and innovative players at a disadvantage.
White House trade advisor Peter Navarro chastised Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday over the company’s response to pressure from the Trump administration to make more of its products outside of China.
“Going back to the first Trump term, Tim Cook has continually asked for more time in order to move his factories out of China,” Navarro said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “I mean it’s the longest-running soap opera in Silicon Valley.”
CNBC has reached out to Apple for comment on Navarro’s criticism.
President Donald Trump has in recent months ramped up demands for Apple to move production of its iconic iPhone to the U.S. from overseas. Apple’s flagship phone is produced primarily in China, but the company has increasingly boosted production in India, partly to avoid the higher cost of Trump’s tariffs.
Trump in May warned Apple would have to pay a tariff of 25% or more for iPhones made outside the U.S. In separate remarks, Trump said he told Cook, “I don’t want you building in India.”
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Analysts and supply chain experts have argued it would be impossible for Apple to completely move iPhone production to the U.S. By some estimates, a U.S.-made iPhone could cost as much as $3,500.
Navarro said Cook isn’t shifting production out of China quickly enough.
“With all these new advanced manufacturing techniques and the way things are moving with AI and things like that, it’s inconceivable to me that Tim Cook could not produce his iPhones elsewhere around the world and in this country,” Navarro said.
Apple currently makes very few products in the U.S. During Trump’s first term, Apple extended its commitment to assemble the $3,000 Mac Pro in Texas.
In February, Apple said it would spend $500 billion within the U.S., including on assembling some AI servers.
CoreWeave founders Brian Venturo, at left in sweatshirt, and Mike Intrator slap five after ringing the opening bell at Nasdaq headquarters in New York on March 28, 2025.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Artificial intelligence hyperscaler CoreWeave said Monday it will acquire Core Scientific, a leading data center infrastructure provider, in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $9 billion.
Coreweave stock fell about 4% on Monday while Core Scientific stock plummeted about 20%. Shares of both companies rallied at the end of June after the Wall Street Journal reported that talks were underway for an acquisition.
The deal strengthens CoreWeave’s position in the AI arms race by bringing critical infrastructure in-house.
CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator said the move will eliminate $10 billion in future lease obligations and significantly enhance operating efficiency.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, pending regulatory and shareholder approval.
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The deal expands CoreWeave’s access to power and real estate, giving it ownership of 1.3 gigawatts of gross capacity across Core Scientific’s U.S. data center footprint, with another gigawatt available for future growth.
Core Scientific has increasingly focused on high-performance compute workloads since emerging from bankruptcy and relisting on the Nasdaq in 2024.
Core Scientific shareholders will receive 0.1235 CoreWeave shares for each share they hold — implying a $20.40 per-share valuation and a 66% premium to Core Scientific’s closing stock price before deal talks were reported.
After closing, Core Scientific shareholders will own less than 10% of the combined company.
Two young men stand inside a shopping mall in front of a large illuminated Apple logo seen through a window in Chongqing, China, on June 4, 2025.
Cheng Xin | Getty Images
Apple on Monday appealed what it called an “unprecedented” 500 million euro ($586 million) fine issued by the European Union for violating the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.
“As our appeal will show, the EC [European Commission] is mandating how we run our store and forcing business terms which are confusing for developers and bad for users,” the company said in a statement. “We implemented this to avoid punitive daily fines and will share the facts with the Court.”
Apple recently made changes to its App Store‘s European policies that the company said would be in compliance with the DMA and would avoid the fines.
The Commission, which is the executive body of the EU, announced its fine in April, saying that Apple “breached its anti-steering obligation” under the DMA with restrictions on the App Store.
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“Due to a number of restrictions imposed by Apple, app developers cannot fully benefit from the advantages of alternative distribution channels outside the App Store,” the commission wrote. “Similarly, consumers cannot fully benefit from alternative and cheaper offers as Apple prevents app developers from directly informing consumers of such offers.”
Under the DMA, tech giants like Apple and Google are required to allow businesses to inform end-users of offers outside their platform — including those at different prices or with different conditions.
Companies like Epic Games and Spotify have complained about restrictions within the App Store that make it harder for them to communicate alternative payment methods to iOS users.
Apple typically takes a 15%-30% cut on in-app purchases.