Regulators have been looking into tech giants in some capacity for years now. Numerous investigations have been opened up into their business practices, privacy policies, and even the several data breaches that they've been (directly or otherwise) responsible for over time.
However, many of these investigations are isolated, and relatively small in both scale and impact. Now, though, according to a report from The Washington Post, that's about to change in a significant way: on September 9, a group of state officials are expected to unveil a massive antitrust investigation into Google. The investigation is being helmed by "more than half" of the US' state attorneys general.
The Post calls this a "major escalation" in regulator efforts to probe Google, but that seems like a bit of an understatement. An investigation of this size is almost unprecedented in the modern tech industry, and it could bring about some interesting results; provided the attorneys general can find proof of antitrust violations. That part will be tricky, and it's likely that Google's team of highly-paid legal experts will have something to say about the situation.
For its part, Google has issued the following statement via spokesperson Jose Castaneda:
Google's services help people every day, create more choice for consumers, and support thousands of jobs and small businesses across the country. We continue to work constructively with regulators, including attorneys general, in answering questions about our business and the dynamic technology sector.
As previously stated, we'll have to wait until September 9 for further details about this investigation, such as participating states, and whether or not regulators will shift their focus to other tech giants (such as Amazon) in the future.
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