The EU just won a fight it started eight years ago. That timeline should worry every AI company watching. Google's $4.7 billion fine over bundling Search, Chrome, and the Play Store on Android was levied in 2018. It was just upheld, in full, in 2026. Eight years, and Brussels didn't blink once.
"Google on Thursday lost its fight against a record fine imposed by EU antitrust regulators eight years ago. It was fined for using its Android mobile operating system to block rivals. Thursday's court ruling is likely to boost Europe's crackdown on big tech. The European Commission had originally handed out a $4.95bn fine to Google for its agreements which forced phone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search, the Chrome browser and the Google Pay App Store on their Android devices and prevented them from using rival Android systems. A lower tribunal reduced the fine in 2022. Google then appealed to the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union, Europe's highest, but the court sided with the EU antitrust enforcer. A Google spokesperson said the judgment failed to take into account its efforts to ensure Android is open, interoperable and free. Google has racked up close to $12.6bn in EU fines in the last decades for various antitrust infringements."
💬 Discussion
The EU just won a fight it started eight years ago. That timeline should worry every AI company watching. Google's $4.7 billion fine over bundling Search, Chrome, and the Play Store on Android was levied in 2018. It was just upheld, in full, in 2026. Eight years, and Brussels didn't blink once.
