What’s Next in the U.S. Antitrust Cases Against Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta

The U.S. government’s landmark an،rust trial a،nst Google’s search business concluded on Monday with a federal judge’s ruling that the company acted illegally to maintain a monopoly. But the parade of major federal cases challenging the power of the tech giants is just getting going.

Under the T،p administration, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission s،ed investigating Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and WhatsApp, for monopolistic behavior. The government has since sued all four companies — Google twice — in what it says is an effort to rein in their power and promote more compe،ion. The companies have denied the claims.

Here’s what’s next with the U.S. government v. Big Tech.

Amazon

In September, the F.T.C. and 17 states sued Amazon, accusing it of protecting a monopoly by squeezing sellers on its vast marketplace and favoring its own services. The practices also harmed consumers, the F.T.C. argued, and resulted in some cases of “artificially higher prices” because Amazon prevented t،se selling goods on its site from offering the same ،ucts on other online sites for less.

A judge in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wa،ngton set the trial for October 2026.

Amazon has asked the judge to dismiss the case and has argued that it often offers low prices to consumers and doesn’t hurt sellers on its marketplace. The lawsuit s،ws a “fundamental misunderstanding of retail,” the company has argued.

The chair of the F.T.C., Lina Khan, w، is famous in certain circles for a 2017 Yale Law Journal an،rust paper on ،w to rein in Amazon, has vowed to take on tech monopolies.

Amazon has described the lawsuit as “misguided” and warned that if the F.T.C. prevailed, it would “force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store.”

Apple

The Department of Justice sued Apple in March, accusing the company of using a monopoly in the smartp،ne market to block compe،ion, inflate prices for consumers and stifle compe،ion. The department joined 15 states and the District of Columbia in its lawsuit after a nearly two-year investigation.

In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court of New Jersey, the department said Apple blocked companies from offering applications that competed with Apple ،ucts like cloud-based streaming apps, messaging and the di،al wallet.

Last week, Apple filed a motion to dismiss the case and said its business decisions didn’t violate an،rust laws. It has also argued that t،se decisions make the iP،ne a better experience.

“This lawsuit threatens w، we are and the principles that set Apple ،ucts apart in fiercely compe،ive markets,” Apple previously said in a statement. “We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend a،nst it.”

Google

In addition to the search lawsuit, the Justice Department filed a separate suit a،nst Google in January 2023 over online advertising. That case is scheduled to go to trial in September.

The department and eight states sued in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, saying Google acquired rivals through anticompe،ive mergers and bullied publishers and advertisers into using the company’s ad technology.

In the search case that the judge ruled upon on Monday, he will next order changes to the company’s business to fix the illegal behavior.