Google gears up to launch streaming game service Stadia

The former president claims the companies have unfairly censored him and other conservatives. A tech industry trade group called the class action lawsuit "frivolous."

Dozens of states and the District of Columbia have begun legal action against Google in the United States over what they allege is monopolistic behaviour in its Google Play app download store. The case argues that the tech giant blocks competition through technical and other barriers, but the company has described the case as "strange" and "meritless". Also, we look at a positive signal for the French tourism sector: hotel bookings have increased at the start of the summer season.

The French Competition Authority imposed a fine of 500 million euros on Google on Tuesday for not having negotiated in good faith compensation for the media for the use of its news content, something a national law requires.

Apple, Microsoft and Google's parent company Alphabet have seen a surge in revenue. The results are attributed to the coronavirus pandemic — but also the easing of lockdowns.

Alibaba's Jack Ma was the first to be targeted by Beijing's crackdown on private enterprise. Now ride-hailing, streaming, delivery and tuition firms have run foul of authorities and investors are nursing heavy losses.

Recent tit-for-tat sanctions from Beijing and Washington have accelerated a trend of economic decoupling, with China looking for more ways to achieve self-sufficiency in critical tech sectors.

Google, Facebook and Microsoft have contributed to "the largest ever effort to lobby the EU" in a battle against new laws aimed at curbing their powers.

A report by three US activist groups claims Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter made billions from US government contracts since 2004.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announces that the tech giant will invest $1 billion over the next five years to allow for faster and more affordable internet access and support entrepreneurship in Africa. Internet reliability is a problem in Africa where less than a third of the continent's 1.3 billion people are connected to broadband, according to the World Bank. But the continent, where nearly half the population is under 18, is a promising market.

Following revelations by whistleblower Frances Haugen and a global outage, the US company faces renewed scrutiny. It could mark a tipping point and prompt lawmakers to get tough on the tech giant.

Facebook is facing a historic crisis. Revelations by former data scientist-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugen have shed light inside the notoriously secretive tech giant. She says Facebook harms children, sparks division and undermines democracy in pursuit of astronomical profits. Her allegations are backed by the leak of tens of thousands of internal documents.

A robotic dog stole the limelight at the Milipol defence and security trade fair near Paris on Tuesday. The 22nd edition of Milipol Paris takes place from Oct. 19 to 22 and plays host to dozens of countries, including Israel, United States and Switzerland. The robotic dog costs "under $1 million", according to Ghost Robotics special projects head Tom Jacobs. He adds that the technology that has advanced in the past few years has enabled the robot dog to keep its balance in difficult terrain