With the FTC appealing its trial-court loss in the Meta/Insta/WhatsApp case, a few thoughts on some of the problems I see with Judge Boasberg's opinion: 🧵

reuters.com/world/ftc-will… First, a few caveats: I worked on this case while at FTC in 2021-23. These are only my thoughts as an academic and outside observer; they don't draw on any confidential info. And I'm not going to address one of the biggest problems w/ the ruling. (2/x)

If Apple or Google copy and use app developers' innovative features, is it just "healthy competition" (Erik's view) or "anticompetitive"? Interesting question, and I don't think it's quite so obvious that this is healthy competition. Here's why: 🧵 (1/x)

https://twitter.com/ErikHovenkamp/status/1976760888704016613

Erik's primary point, as I take it, is that copying & using rivals' ideas is a very common form of competing. Once upon a time, a bagel seller had the idea of also selling lox. Rivals noticed lines outside that store and did the same. Normal, and (normatively) "healthy." (2/x)

Reading through the massive (200+ pages), landmark U.S. v. @Google #antitrust remedies opinion that just dropped. Will add reactions/thoughts below: 🧵 (1/x) Not off to a great start. The court starts out correctly saying that its remedy must pry open the market. But then it says denying the fruits of the violation is (merely) "a valid objective." Not the law of this Circuit, which says remedies *must* do that one as well. (2/x)

With all the antitrust/Big Tech news swirling around, I've seen a lot of confusion on here about how antitrust works. People are making the same mistakes over and over. We can do better! Here's a quick, easy illustrated guide to avoid the 5 most common mistakes: Mistake #1: "These other products compete with the Defendant's products, so they must all be in the same market."

Fixing the Mistake:

If we abandon public research funding, then we will increasingly let Big Tech incumbents steer the direction of genAI innovation. One problem? Most of them already control highly profitable cloud services, which biases them toward inefficient compute-heavy tech. Short 🧵 (1/x) GenAI has the potential to be a general-use technology. That means whole ecosystems will grow up around whatever foundational tech/business model catches on and takes root. (Like how the surveillance adtech industry grew up around the zero-price targeted-ad biz model.) (2/x)

Huge congrats to Mergers IV and the @FTC Litigation Group on a historic win! Kroger/Albertsons grocery-store mega-merger is blocked. Reading the opinion now and will add thoughts below 🧵👇

Link to opinion: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… @FTC First, a reminder that FTC was joined in this case by a bipartisan coalition of state AGs. (1/x)

AAG Jonathan Kanter sent shockwaves thru the antitrust community yesterday by calling out corporate-funded advocacy dressed up as scholarship. I've seen a thing or two, but a recent experience w/ this left me shook. Check it out: 🧵 (1/x) Earlier this year, the pro-enforcement community was surprised and upset when Google got an invite to address the California Law Review Commission on whether the state’s antitrust laws need updating.