In today’s digest, we cover Japan’s cease and desist order against Google plus a UK lawsuit against the tech giant over its online search dominance OpenAI’s early steps toward launching its own social network, and YouTube’s exemption from Australia’s upcoming social media ban

Google Faces UK Lawsuit and Cease and Desist Order in Japan 

Google is facing a £5bn lawsuit in the UK over allegations that it abused its dominance in the online search market. The case claims that Google shut out competition in the sector by contracting phone makers to pre-install its search engine and the Chrome browser on Android devices, as well as paying Apple to make it the default search engine on iPhones.  

Meanwhile, Japan has issued a cease and desist order to Google, marking the country’s first such action against a US tech giant. The Japan Fair Trade Commission found that Google engaged in anticompetitive conduct by conditioning its advertising revenue sharing agreements on the exclusion of rival search services. According to Reuters, Google must now appoint a third party to monitor and report back to the watchdog. 

OpenAI Developing its Own Social Network

OpenAI is in the early stages of developing a social network, according to multiple sources, The Verge reports An internal prototype reportedly exists, featuring a social feed, focused on ChatGPT’s image generation capabilities.

CEO Sam Altman has been quietly seeking external feedback on the project, though it remains unclear whether the social network will launch as a standalone app or be integrated into ChatGPT. 

A social platform would offer OpenAI access to real time user data, similar to the data available to  X and Meta. This data could significantly benefit OpenAI’s future AI model training. 

YouTube Exempted From Australia’s Social Media Ban

YouTube has been exempted from Australia’s upcoming social media ban for users under 16, even before the government’s official consultation process on the matter has begun. Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland reportedly gave a personal guarantee of the exemption to YouTube’s global head, sparking backlash from rival platforms.

Competitors, including Meta, Snap Inc., and TikTok, have criticised the move. TikTok called it a “sweetheart deal” that is “illogical, anti-competitive, and short-sighted,” raising concerns about fairness and regulatory consistency in the proposed policy.