EU Gives Google More Time to Address DMA Breach Concerns; DOJ Antitrust Chief Warns on AI Merger Defenses

The European Commission granted Google additional time to address concerns in its Digital Markets Act investigation after the company's initial proposal was deemed insufficient. The EC is demanding that Google allow users to separate Search, YouTube, and Chrome, and is curbing self-preferencing in search results. Separately, DOJ Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi warned companies against using AI disruption as a defense in merger reviews without providing evidence, stating "we know when you are trying to mislead us" at an NYU event. Meanwhile, a federal judge denied Google's request to pause the search data-sharing order in the DOJ monopoly case, ruling that data sharing is at least months away.