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<v Speaker 1>It is time for Tech Tuesday with Mike Duboski, who

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<v Speaker 1>is the ABC News technology reporter who joins us. Mike

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<v Speaker 1>is always thank you so much for joining us. Now

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<v Speaker 1>some enormously huge news which somehow has not gotten Well,

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<v Speaker 1>we know why it has not gotten the attention that

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<v Speaker 1>it should get because of the issue with tariffs and

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<v Speaker 1>now the Pope, et cetera. But that is the trial

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<v Speaker 1>of Google, and the judge looking at it already viewed

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<v Speaker 1>Google as a monopoly.

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<v Speaker 2>What is going on and what is going to happen?

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<v Speaker 3>This, of course, is the Google search engine monopoly case

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<v Speaker 3>decided last year by a judge who ruled that Google

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<v Speaker 3>was operating an illegal monopoly in the world of online

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<v Speaker 3>search engines, that it wasn't just creating a product that

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<v Speaker 3>people like to use and therefore was popular as a result,

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<v Speaker 3>but rather was using its market power, it's billions of dollars,

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<v Speaker 3>it's troves of data with regards to how people search online,

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<v Speaker 3>to muscle out competitors and make for an anti competitive

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<v Speaker 3>environment and therefore a less good competitive market for consumers.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, with that being said.

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<v Speaker 1>Let me interrupt for a moment. If the judge has

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<v Speaker 1>already ruled that's the case. What is this trial about.

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<v Speaker 3>This trial is about what to do about it. Essentially,

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<v Speaker 3>this is how we figure out what the remedy of

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<v Speaker 3>that monopoly is going to be. This is expected to

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<v Speaker 3>be a three week hearing. It kicked off yesterday in Washington,

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<v Speaker 3>d C. And there are many potential remedies on the

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<v Speaker 3>table here. The Department of Justice is going pretty big

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<v Speaker 3>in this case. One of those remedies would be to

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<v Speaker 3>force Google to sell off Google Chrome, which is their

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<v Speaker 3>very popular web browser, also the driver of a lot

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<v Speaker 3>of Google search traffic, about thirty five percent according to

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<v Speaker 3>the federal government. They are also targeting some of the

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<v Speaker 3>deals Hello hello.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh there you go. I'm sorry, we're glitching up there.

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<v Speaker 3>So at the time Tuesday, you know that's gonna come.

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<v Speaker 2>That's part of the Yeah, I know, I know.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a great time for this thing to fall apart

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<v Speaker 1>on Tech Tuesday. So I think you had just said

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<v Speaker 1>that some of the remedies Chrome may go by the wayside,

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<v Speaker 1>and what.

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<v Speaker 3>Else Chrome could go by the wayside. Also, Google has

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<v Speaker 3>spent many billions of dollars striking deals with Apple and

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<v Speaker 3>Samsung and others to be the default search engine on devices. Right,

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<v Speaker 3>So if you go to the Safari web browser on

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<v Speaker 3>your iPhone, you need to type something in not a

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<v Speaker 3>web dress or anything like that. You just type in

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<v Speaker 3>a term you're going to do a Google search, right.

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<v Speaker 3>And Google spends many billions of dollars for that privilege,

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<v Speaker 3>according to the government, and according to a court, is

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<v Speaker 3>anti competitive because it doesn't give consumers the choice of

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<v Speaker 3>what search engine to use in that scenario. So the

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<v Speaker 3>government is asking a judge to force Google to unwind

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<v Speaker 3>some of those deals, and Google says that they're open

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<v Speaker 3>to that possibility of potentially renegotiating some of those deals,

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<v Speaker 3>despite the fact that they're a huge part of their business.

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<v Speaker 3>But they say that going any further than that, forcing

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<v Speaker 3>them to break up the company by selling off Google

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<v Speaker 3>Chrome and to crack down on some other aspects of

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<v Speaker 3>their business, would be going too far. So that's what

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<v Speaker 3>they have to decide in court this week. It's not

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<v Speaker 3>the only anti trust trial that Google is facing. Just

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<v Speaker 3>a few days ago, they were ruled to be operating

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<v Speaker 3>an illegal monopoly in the world of online advertising as well.

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<v Speaker 3>It's the second week of the Facebook anti trust trial,

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<v Speaker 3>and the DOJ is also leveraging cases against Apple, the

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<v Speaker 3>FTC against Amazon Bill. What this means it's a tough

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<v Speaker 3>time to be a tech executive in twenty twenty five.

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<v Speaker 1>Except there, Let's say they spin off these various companies.

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<v Speaker 1>Now they're competing against those companies. And obviously if they

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<v Speaker 1>are spinning off and getting cash, they're going to be

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<v Speaker 1>so cash rich it's ridiculous. They're going to be able

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<v Speaker 1>to buy entire countries. But it do you foresee legitimate competition?

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<v Speaker 3>Well?

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<v Speaker 2>And will they stay and will they stay in the business.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a good question, right. We don't really know what

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<v Speaker 3>a future without a dominant Google Search looks like. Right,

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<v Speaker 3>And Google has been making the argument in court that

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<v Speaker 3>spinning off Google Chrome would kill Google Chrome, right, that

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<v Speaker 3>it just needs to be a part of Google in

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<v Speaker 3>order to operate. There's also the question of who would

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<v Speaker 3>buy it, right. Google is a one point eight trillion

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<v Speaker 3>dollar company. A lot of that valuation comes from its

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<v Speaker 3>cadra of services like Google Chrome. Who could afford a

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<v Speaker 3>company like Google Chrome if they were to sell it off,

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<v Speaker 3>and would that attract the attention of antitrust regulators? Again,

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<v Speaker 3>So those are the questions that are facing the government,

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<v Speaker 3>right now that's kind of what they have to prove

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<v Speaker 3>in court to this judge saying that this is the

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<v Speaker 3>actual only remedy. It's actually really difficult to break up

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<v Speaker 3>a company. That's not the way our system usually does things.

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<v Speaker 3>The plaintifs in this case need to prove that that's

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<v Speaker 3>the only option, right, They need to take every other

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<v Speaker 3>possibility off the table before a judge would ultimately side

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<v Speaker 3>in that case. But even still, the government is going

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<v Speaker 3>after them in that regard. Another big part of this

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<v Speaker 3>is search engine data. Right every time you google something,

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<v Speaker 3>Google learns a little bit about you and learns about

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<v Speaker 3>the search engine habits of Americans. The Department of Justice

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<v Speaker 3>is also asking a judge to make Google make that

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<v Speaker 3>information freely available. Right now, it's proprietary to Google. One

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<v Speaker 3>of the reasons they say that Google has become dominant

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<v Speaker 3>is because other competitors don't have access to as wide

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<v Speaker 3>a trove of information as as Art Eagle does.

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<v Speaker 1>Mike Weird new truck out there that de Bezos is backing.

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<v Speaker 2>What is this about? Because I love new You know,

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<v Speaker 2>we have not had years where nothing new.

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<v Speaker 1>We have had years where nothing new has come up,

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<v Speaker 1>And then the last few years. It has exploded with

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<v Speaker 1>new companies, new products, new vehicles.

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<v Speaker 2>So what's this one about.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, speaks to just how hard it is to build

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<v Speaker 3>cars in the industry. But thanks to flush you know,

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<v Speaker 3>VC cash, there are now you know, a whole lot

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<v Speaker 3>of new startups kind of floating around out there. The

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<v Speaker 3>latest one is Slate Auto and this is one to

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<v Speaker 3>keep an eye on this week. This is a new

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<v Speaker 3>automaker that's promising a small electric pickup truck for just

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<v Speaker 3>twenty five thousand dollars. There's really nothing else out there

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<v Speaker 3>that is a pickup truck that is twenty five thousand

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<v Speaker 3>dollars that runs on battery power. There are vanishingly few

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<v Speaker 3>cars out there for twenty five thousand dollars anymore. And

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<v Speaker 3>this is a pretty big promise. Tesla for a long

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<v Speaker 3>time was promising a thirty five thousand dollars electric vehicle,

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<v Speaker 3>but they were never quite able to get that over

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<v Speaker 3>the line. So this is a pretty ambitious project. But

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<v Speaker 3>even still, speaking of that VC cash, this company has

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<v Speaker 3>been able to raise over one hundred and ten million

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<v Speaker 3>dollars in Series A funding. One of those major investors

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<v Speaker 3>is Jeff Bezos, so some big names attached to this

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<v Speaker 3>and throwing their name behind this new company. What we

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<v Speaker 3>know about the truck is kind of sparse at this point.

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<v Speaker 3>There have been a couple prototypes, a couple mock ups

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<v Speaker 3>cropping up around, particularly like trendy neighborhoods in Los Angeles

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<v Speaker 3>for people to take pick of, but there's no details

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<v Speaker 3>on it. In fact, one reporter was able to climb

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<v Speaker 3>under one of those models and discover that there's actually

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<v Speaker 3>not an engine in it. It's just kind of a

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<v Speaker 3>model that they've put there for people to look at.

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<v Speaker 3>We are expected to get more details on this thing

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<v Speaker 3>when it is officially unveiled later this week on Thursday, So.

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<v Speaker 2>We don't know when it's coming out. Any idea or

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<v Speaker 2>the range or.

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<v Speaker 1>The actual price. Is that a We hope to be

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<v Speaker 1>able to do it for twenty five thousand dollars.

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<v Speaker 3>I think we're going to get more information on all

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<v Speaker 3>of those fronts on Thursday when it is officially unveiled.

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<v Speaker 3>The target seems to be twenty five thousand dollars, and

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<v Speaker 3>they seem to be pretty committed to, if not exactly

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<v Speaker 3>that number, somewhere close to it. In fact, one of

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<v Speaker 3>the early reports here indicates that the car will have

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<v Speaker 3>optional air conditioning, Which when was the last time that

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<v Speaker 3>you remembered optional air conditioning in a vehicle? That seems

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<v Speaker 3>to be a tactic that they are using to get

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<v Speaker 3>this thing under that twenty five thousand dollars mark. It's

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<v Speaker 3>really difficult, right, mass producing a car at scale, especially

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<v Speaker 3>when you're startup, is an expensive proposition, right. You have

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<v Speaker 3>to contact suppliers, you have to spin up factories, hire workers,

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<v Speaker 3>do marketing and all that sort of thing that costs

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of money that's eventually transferred onto the cost

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<v Speaker 3>of the car. Does seem like there's some pretty deep

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<v Speaker 3>pocketed investors behind this company that might be able to

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<v Speaker 3>absorb some of that cost. But will this be a

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<v Speaker 3>going concern? Will this be something that lasts? I think

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<v Speaker 3>that remains to be seen. It's also going to be

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<v Speaker 3>interesting for me to just look at, you know, who

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<v Speaker 3>is this targeted at?

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<v Speaker 1>Right?

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<v Speaker 3>Is this an everyday person's car? Is this designed to

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<v Speaker 3>be a commuter vehicle for people who you know might

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<v Speaker 3>need a small pickup truck like this? Or is this

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<v Speaker 3>for work? Right? Is this for small businesses? Some of

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<v Speaker 3>the mockups that have been cropping up have had little

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<v Speaker 3>attachments to the back of them to go over the

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<v Speaker 3>bed of the pickup truck, a little sort of coverings

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<v Speaker 3>or they kind of make it look a little bit different.

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<v Speaker 3>So it seems to be aimed kind of at small

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<v Speaker 3>businesses and people who use the vehicle for that purpose.

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<v Speaker 3>But again, we just don't know for sure yet.

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<v Speaker 1>How about those other companies that have come out. You've

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<v Speaker 1>got Rivian, you have I'm trying to think.

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<v Speaker 2>Of yeh, Lucid. Yeah, I haven't even seen.

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<v Speaker 1>A Lucid vehicle out there. I've seen some Rivians. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>how are they? How are they doing? Is there anybody

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<v Speaker 1>succeeding other than Tesla.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, it's kind of an open question whether Tesla is

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<v Speaker 3>still succeeding really. I mean, they have good point to

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<v Speaker 3>a point, but we are expected to get information on

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<v Speaker 3>their latest quarterly earnings later today. That's going to be

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<v Speaker 3>kind of our clearest look yet into the actions of

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<v Speaker 3>Elon Musk and whether that's having an impact on his

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<v Speaker 3>electric vehicle business. With regards to Rivian and Lucid, those

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<v Speaker 3>kind of seem to be the most prominent electric vehicle

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<v Speaker 3>startups out there as opposed to Tesla. Rivian makes electric trucks.

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<v Speaker 3>Lucid makes an electric sedan. They are about to bring

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<v Speaker 3>an electric suv to market. I actually got a chance

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<v Speaker 3>to drive it last week at the New York International

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<v Speaker 3>Auto Show. It's a really interesting new product. They are

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<v Speaker 3>backed by the Saudi Investment Fund, which is a hugely

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<v Speaker 3>you know, wealthy investment fund out there, so they have

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<v Speaker 3>some some backing behind them. But again they're not really

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<v Speaker 3>making money just yet. Rivian, on the other hand, has

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<v Speaker 3>major partnerships with the likes of Ford and used to

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<v Speaker 3>be with Amazon as well, so it's really not even

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<v Speaker 3>about selling a car and making you know, a margin

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<v Speaker 3>on each individual vehicle. It's kind of about what relationships

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<v Speaker 3>that you're able to strike. So that's kind of where

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<v Speaker 3>they find themselves right now.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, Mike, thank you always, great information. You have

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<v Speaker 2>a good day.

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<v Speaker 3>You do too. Take care.