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Good morning!
Before we jump into the issues, I want to ask for your help in spreading the word that the application for the 2026 Tech Policy Press fellowship is now open. Some of the best, most insightful and timely pieces of content we publish are produced by our fellows. The deadline to apply for next year’s cohort is October 15. We’re hosting a couple of information sessions for potential applicants—the first one is on Tuesday, September 9 at 9 a.m. EDT. Register here.
Now, on to the headlines.
The defining issue of the week was antitrust enforcement. In a landmark decision in a US district court in the Google search remedies trial that will undoubtedly shape the future of the internet, a federal judge opted against forcing Google to spin off its Chrome browser but barred it from striking exclusive agreements to promote its search engine.
Tech Policy Press associate editor Cristiano Lima-Strong reported on the decision, including in a piece looking at how Judge Amit Mehta’s considerations around artificial intelligence shaped the ruling, which heavily emphasized the role generative AI tools like ChatGPT could play in the future of online search and information retrieval.
We expect (and invite–see below) more analysis of the implications of the decision in the week ahead. In one of the first pieces we received following the ruling, Georgetown’s Mark MacCarthy argued that the outcome revealed the fundamental limitation of antitrust as a way to structure markets in the public interest. By escaping the divestiture bullet, Google won a significant victory that leaves few avenues open to reform.
The week was bookended by Google news on both sides of the Atlantic. On Friday, the European Commission handed Google a €2.95 billion fine for abuse of dominance of its advertising technology, stemming from an antitrust case launched in 2021. The Commission had warned that behavioral remedies wouldn’t address competition concerns about Google adtech, suggesting that divestment was a necessary step, notes Tech Policy Press fellow Megan Kirkwood. However, in Friday’s decision, the Commission decided not to go that far just yet.
Another significant event that folks on both sides of the Atlantic paid attention to this week was a hearing in Congress titled ‘Europe’s Threat to American Speech and Innovation’. House Republicans took aim at European online safety regulations at the hearing on Wednesday, part of a broader conservative effort to discredit the rules on US tech companies. Check out the highlights and a transcript of a hearing here, brought to you by Tech Policy Press associate editors Ramsha Jahangir and Cristiano Lima-Strong.
There’s a lot more to consider this week, starting with two round-ups:
Catch up on what happened in US tech policy in August with a roundup from Freedman Consulting’s Rachel Lau and J.J. Tolentino and Tech Policy Press managing editor Ben Lennett, including coverage of the federal push for AI in gov’t, the potential harms of AI chatbots to children, and developments in Congress.
Check out another installment of the Global Digital Policy Roundup for August 2025 from the experts at Digital Policy Alert. Maria Buza, Aishwarya Vaithyanathan and Tommaso Giardini highlight tech policy developments in content moderation, artificial intelligence, competition, and data governance.
We had a number of pieces on AI, including on AI in government, AI chatbots, and more:
When it comes to AI, “we need systematic integration of public voice in tech governance, not to slow innovation, but to ground it in lived experience,” writes Alice Siu, associate director of the Deliberative Democracy Lab and a senior research scholar at Stanford University's Center on Democracy. “This isn’t about choosing between innovation and democracy. It’s about recognizing they’re stronger together.”
A 'democracy tech stack' could supercharge public participation, argues a group of scholars and practitioners including Lisa Schirch, John Richardson, André Côté, Liz Barry, Amb. Audrey Tang, Jeffery Marino, and Stephen Huddart. Through various projects and prototypes, they are exploring a new class of digital democracy tools.
The role of AI and algorithmic governance was a topic of debate at the 113th International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva in June 2025, when "decent work in the platform economy" was formally debated for the first time. “Treating algorithmic systems as ‘commercial tools’ rather than as mechanisms of labor management is not a technical distinction but a policy choice with direct implications for platform workers,” write Equidem’s Shikha Silliman Bhattacharjee and Nandita Shivakumar.
You’ll hear some similar themes in this week’s podcast conversation between Tech Policy Press fellow Anika Collier Navaroli and Vaishnavi J, the founder of Vyanams Strategies (VYS), a firm that advises on youth product, engineering, and policy solutions. As part of Anika’s series of podcasts, Through to Thriving, this episode focuses on how to center young people in technology policy, including the importance of protecting the human rights of children, the debates around recent age assurance and verification regulations, and the trade-offs between safety and privacy.
We had two pieces that focused on policy concerns in India:
India’s courts and legislature are enabling, not restraining, the executive’s speech crackdown. Institutions meant as checks are turning into enablers, writes Tech Policy Press fellow Prateek Waghre, continuing his series of reports on free expression issues in the country.
US President Donald Trump’s impromptu tariff threats continue to complicate and reshape international trade policy and increasingly technology policymaking. In India, says Tech Policy Press contributing editor Amber Sinha, the Modi government had anticipated pushback from the Trump administration, and in response to years of criticism by the office of the US Trade Representative, moved to withdraw the equalization levy in April this year. The years of conflict over the equalization levy, often referred to as the Google Tax, and India’s eventual capitulation represent a case study in inadequate international taxation and the limited bargaining power these countries hold when negotiating with the Trump administration, he writes.
What we’re watching:
Tech Policy Press is following a number of important discussions next week on which we would value submissions from the field.
The Google search case and the future of antitrust. Judge Mehta’s decision in the Google search case was a disappointment to many who had hoped that the courts and antitrust enforcement would provide an avenue to break open digital markets, including through structural remedies such as divestitures. What are the implications of the decision for future cases, and what does it mean for the potential of antitrust as a check on Big Tech’s power? What should other governments learn from the decision, and how should it affect their approach to enforcing antitrust or competition laws against US tech companies?
The US/EU standoff over regulating Big Tech. As noted above, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing targeting European online safety laws, specifically the United Kingdom's Online Safety Act and the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA). The hearing was the latest salvo in an ongoing effort by the Trump Administration and conservatives in Congress to rebuke European attempts, through the DSA and other measures, to regulate Big Tech. What’s next for the EU in this dispute? What are its options, and what does it mean for other countries pursuing similar efforts?
California’s new AI regulatory push. Last year, California Governor Newsom vetoed SB 1047, legislation that sought to regulate large AI models. Now, a new bill, SB 53, is moving through the state legislature. How does the bill compare to SB 1047? Who supports or opposes it and why? If it passes, will the governor sign it?
If you are interested in submitting an article on any of these topics, please consult our contributor guidelines.
Finally, speaking of fellowships, if you are working at the intersection of technology and its impact on society, I’d also recommend you check out the Public Voices Fellowship on Technology in the Public Interest, an initiative of The OpEd Project supported by the MacArthur Foundation (which also provides grant support to Tech Policy Press).
And be sure to spread the word about the Tech Policy Press fellowship!
Have a good week ahead-
Justin
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