Photo by Adarsh Chauhan on Unsplash

U.S. Government Considers Forcing Google to Break Up in Antitrust Case

• Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
• Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

• The U.S. Department of Justice shared a document outlining remedies to combat Google’s monopoly
• Forbidding Google from using Chrome, Android, and Play is among the suggestions
• Google considered these “radical changes” and plans to appeal in court

The government of the United States is considering asking a judge to force Alphabet—Google’s parent company—to sell off parts of its businesses, like the Android operating system and Chrome browser, as part of the solution to combat Google’s search monopoly.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) shared a framework document yesterday with potential remedies to reduce Google’s power, create more opportunities for creators, and reshape the way Americans access online content.

The DOJ proposes actions in four areas to regulate “Google’s illegal conduct”: search distribution and revenue sharing, accumulation and use of data, generation and display of search results, and advertising scale and monetization.

“For more than a decade, Google has controlled the most popular distribution channels, leaving rivals with little-to-no incentive to compete for users,” states the document regarding search distribution and revenue sharing. “Plaintiffs are considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features.”

The Department of Justice suggests also prohibiting or limiting Google’s contracts with other businesses and using or retaining data. According to Reuters , Google has made large payments— $26.3 billion in 2021—to companies like Apple and other manufacturers to remain people’s first search engine option.

A few hours after the DOJ shared the document, Google shared a public statement saying that the institution had published “radical changes” that “go far beyond the specific legal issues in this case.”

Google plans to appeal in court next year but warned that the measures proposed by the government as it considers that will harm businesses, consumers, and developers.

Italy’s Antitrust Agency has also announced an investigation against Google and Alphabet regarding unfair commercial practices and use of citizens’ data. Other companies, like Epic Games, have filed lawsuits against Google for anti-competitive practices.

Image by Asfand Effandi, from Unsplash

Adobe Launches Content Authenticity App To Protect Creators From Unauthorized AI Use

• Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
• Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

• Adobe launched a free web app to help creators protect their digital work.
• The app applies Content Credentials, acting like a “nutrition label” for digital content.
• The app allows creators to signal exclusion from generative AI training usage.

Adobe has announced on Tuesday the launch of a new web app designed to help creators protect their digital work with Content Credentials . The Adobe Content Authenticity web app offers a free solution for applying these credentials, which act like a “nutrition label” for digital content, ensuring proper attribution and transparency.

The app builds on Adobe’s broader Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), which began in 2019, and addresses growing concerns over content misuse, misinformation, and unauthorized AI training.

Content Credentials, already available in popular Adobe Creative Cloud apps such as Photoshop, Lightroom, and Firefly, provide secure metadata for creators to include information about themselves and their work.

With the new web app, creators can apply these credentials to images, videos, and audio files in bulk, giving them control over how their work is used and ensuring proper recognition. One key feature of the app allows creators to apply Content Credentials in bulk to their digital work, such as images, audio, and video files.

Creators can control what information is included, such as their name, website, and social media accounts, with further customization options planned. This helps ensure they receive proper attribution and protection from unauthorized use or misattribution.

The app also gives creators the option to signal whether they want their content excluded from generative AI training. While Adobe’s Firefly only uses licensed content for training, other AI models may not follow this practice.

With the web app, creators can set preferences to prevent their content from being used by other AI models. This feature also ensures that content not authorized for AI training won’t be eligible for Adobe Stock.

Additionally, Adobe has introduced tools for viewing and recovering Content Credentials, even when some platforms do not display provenance information.

The Content Authenticity extension for Google Chrome and an Inspect tool within the app allow users to recover associated credentials and edit history.

Content Credentials are designed to remain securely attached to digital work throughout its lifecycle, utilizing a combination of digital fingerprinting, invisible watermarking, and cryptographic metadata to ensure their durability and verifiability.

However, the company admits that the tool is not foolproof. “Anybody who tells you that their watermark is 100% defensible is lying,” says Ely Greenfield, Adobe’s CTO of digital media, as reported by MIT Review .

“This is defending against accidental or unintentional stripping, as opposed to some nefarious actor,” she added.

Adobe asserts that it does not (and will not) use user content for training its AI, as noted by MIT.

However, many artists, including Neil Turkewitz, an artists’ rights activist and former executive vice president of the Recording Industry Association of America, argue that the company fails to secure consent or properly own the rights to individual contributors’ images, as reported by MIT.

“It wouldn’t take a huge shift for Adobe to actually become a truly ethical actor in this space and to demonstrate leadership,” he says. “But it’s great that companies are dealing with provenance and improving tools for metadata, which are all part of an ultimate solution for addressing these problems,” Nail added, as reported by MIT.