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Title: The Morning After: What we learned from the FTC v. Meta antitrust
trial (so far)

Date: Fri, 09 May 2025 12:20:22 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-...

Years after the Federal Trade Commission sued Meta in a bid to halt
acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, the trial that will shape its future
is finally underway. The trial kicked off last month when CEO Mark Zuckerberg
took the stand, and itΓÇÖs expected to last several weeks.

FacebookΓÇÖs 2012 acquisition of Instagram is a central part of the FTCΓÇÖs
case against Meta. The government says Zuckerberg bought Instagram to
neutralize it as a competitor. When InstagramΓÇÖs cofounder and former CEO
Kevin Systrom took the stand, he didnΓÇÖt exactly defend the move. While
Zuckerberg had testified Meta had helped Instagram grow, Systrom testified
Zuckerberg saw Instagram as a ΓÇ£threatΓÇ¥ to FacebookΓÇÖs growth and
intentionally withheld company resources.

Further still, FacebookΓÇÖs decision to pay $1 billion for Instagram ΓÇö an
app with no revenue and just a handful of employees ΓÇö seemed like an
incredible sum. Sheryl Sandberg thought Zuckerberg had overpaid for
Instagram. In an exchange between the two from 2012, she said, ΓÇ£Yes, of
course itΓÇÖs way too much.ΓÇ¥

There are more nuggets, too. Like how Meta sees TikTok as an earnest threat,
how Europeans arenΓÇÖt buying the ad-free subscriptions (duh), and why
Zuckerberg thought about nuking usersΓÇÖ friend lists annually to boost
engagement. Read Karissa BellΓÇÖs full breakdown of the FTC v. Meta antitrust
trial so far.

ΓÇö Mat Smith

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What to expect from Google I/O 2025 Android 16, Gemini and more. Google

Google I/O 2025 should be one of the more exciting tech keynotes in recent
memory. Plus, for the first time, Google has spun out a dedicated Android
showcase a whole week earlier. What can we expect to see in Android 16?
WeΓÇÖve had lots of hints at an upcoming design change to the platform,
reportedly called Material 3 Expressive. A leaked blog post discusses the
research behind Material 3 Expressive and how the visual overhaul led to
action elements standing out more and greater responsiveness on the usersΓÇÖ
part. Then there are Gemini AI updates, more Google service updates and
everything else. We break down what weΓÇÖre expecting to see.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-...
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