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Why Google Won’t Lose Chrome, and It Doesn’t Matter - DTNS 5096

Added 2025-09-03 18:39:35 +0000 UTC

We break down the Google decision and Bodie Grimm explains LMR batteries to us.

Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, and Bodie Grimm.

TOM: This is the Daily Tech News for Wednesday, September 3, 2025. We tell you what you need to know, follow up on the context of those stories and help each other understand.

SARAH: Today, Bodie Grimm tells us what LMR batteries are, and why they’re coming to your next EV and we break down the judge’s decision not to require Google to sell Chrome and why it really doesn’t matter… yet.

I’m Tom Merritt,

I’m Sarah Lane.

TOM: Let’s start with what you need to know with the big story.

[[BIG STORY]]
[[SOLO story of the day. Basic details, monitor commentary and sound when possible.]]

TOM: U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta issued an order in the US antitrust case against Google over its domination of search advertising. This is separate from another antitrust case in the US over ad exchanges, which is expected to get its final order later this month.

The judge already found that Google abused its market position in search ads. This order is about what remedies the judge will require to correct for that abuse.

Google will not have to sell Chrome or divest itself of Android. The judge felt those remedies were "a poor fit for this case" and the DoJ did not prove why less extreme remedies wouldn't be enough to restore competition. Judge Mehta wrote that “the court is highly skeptical that a Chrome divestiture would not come at the expense of substantial product degradation and a loss of consumer welfare.”

Google will also still be allowed to pay partners, like Mozilla, Samsung, and Apple, for preloading or placement of its search and AI products. The Judge found that such a ruling would harm phone and browser makers more than Google, as Google will get to keep its money, and the recipients would be left without vital income. He wrote that such a decision might lead to “fewer products and less product innovation from Apple.” However the judge said, he’s “prepared to revisit a payment ban if competition is not substantially restored through the remedies the court does impose.”

He did not think this was ideal to let Google keep paying for placement but acknowledged that the landscape has changed since the case was first brought and wrote that “companies already are in a better position, both financially and technologically, to compete with Google than any traditional search company has been in decades (except perhaps Microsoft).” He added “There are strong reasons not to jolt the system and to allow market forces to do the work.”

He also didn't accept the DoJ's request that companies present users with a choice screen for their search engine when they set up a device, writing that "Precedent requires courts to avoid remedies that compel product design requirements, and in any event, choice screens have not been shown to enhance competition."

So what does Google have to do? It may not make exclusive deals to distribute Google Search, the Chrome browser or Gemini in a way that would prevent the distribution of rival products. It also can't require the use of those products if a company wants to carry the Google Play Store.

And the court ordered it to share some search index data and user interaction data, though “not ads data” with rivals to help them compete better. Qualified competitors can buy a one-time snapshot of data at marginal cost so that they can “identify and crawl more web pages with valuable content and do so more efficiently.” This was a request from the DoJ, but the judge only authorized a subset of the data the DoJ requested be shared and only required it to share it once instead of periodically refreshing it.

And Mehta partially granted the DoJ's request to force Google to syndicate search but allowed Google to price it above marginal cost and the requirement only lasts for 5 years instead of the 10 that the DoJ requested.

In effect, the Judge has accepted all of Google's recommendations for remedy and part of the US Department of Justice's. There are some slight differences in how the DoJ and Google worded similar remedies, so the judge ordered them to reconcile those by September 10th and submit them as a final order for the judge's approval. After that happens, the order will become final, and that's when we expect Google will appeal the ruling that it violated antitrust laws.

But it can't do that until the final order is done, so for now, Google's vp of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland wrote that the company has “concerns about how these requirements will impact our users and their privacy, and we’re reviewing the decision closely.”

It's also possible that the DoJ could appeal the remedy decision. DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater said, “We will continue to review the opinion to consider the Department’s options and next steps regarding seeking additional relief.”

SARAH: DTNS is made possible by you the listener. Thanks to
Tony Glass
Philip Less
Howard Yermish

[[BREAK]]
[[PAUSE]]

TOM: There’s more we need to know today, let’s get to the briefs.

[[BRIEFS]]
[[3-9 more solo reads with sound to complete the day in tech news. These are informational with minor commentary.]]

reMarkable’s newest E-Ink writing tablet is a 7.3-inch, $449 handheld slab - Ars Technica

SARAH: The IFA tech conference is happening in Berlin, so we have a lot of product announcements. E-ink tablet-maker reMarkable announced the reMarkable Paper Pro Move. It's a smaller 7.3-inch version of reMarkable's color eInk note-taking device. Paper Pro Move is available now for $449 with a standard stylus and no case. The Marker Pro, which has an eraser, can be added for $50, and cases range from $69 to $139.

TOM: Acer announced lots of new products at IFA. The one you may see the most headlines about is the Swift Air 16, which uses a magnesium-aluminum alloy to get the weight of the 16-inch laptop to less than 2.18 pounds. It comes to the EMEA in November with prices starting at €999.

There's also the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514, a convertible laptop with the MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 processor for AI processing and power efficiency. It starts at $699. Available in October.

And probably getting less attention is the Acer Veriton GN100 workstation, which has Nvidia's GB10 Blackwell superchip with up to 1 PFLOPS, so you can run powerful models locally. It starts at $3,999.

Google will reveal more Gemini smart home plans and devices on October 1

SARAH: Google announced an event for October 1st with the words "Gemini is coming to Google Home" and a picture of what looks like a Nest cam. Google announced last month that Gemini for Home would replace Google Assistant.

TOM: One trend out of IFA seems to be gigantic speakers. Samsung announced its latest Sound Tower models, the ST50F and the ST40F. They look like rollable luggage but are mostly speaker. The ST50F has wheels and a telescopic handle, and an 18-hour battery life. The ST40F has a handle but no wheels. They both have Standard, Wide, Stadium, and Outdoor settings to match where you are. They're available now for $700 and $500, respectively. And JBL announced its PartyBox 720, which has 15 hours of battery life and a replaceable battery. It has two XLR ports for mics and a lightshow that syncs to the music too. It starts at $1,099 shipping September 21st.

SARAH: A couple of other IFA product releases to note. Garmin announced the 27-day battery life Fenix 8 Pro rugged smartwatch with satellite and cellular connectivity so you can send and receive text messages, share location and make and receive voice calls, and leave 20-second voice messages from almost anywhere on the planet. It starts at $1200, available September 8. And Finland's Polar announced a fitness band called the Polar Loop that tracks activity, sleep, and health metrics without a subscription. It's available for pre-order for $199, shipping September 10th.

TOM: OpenAI made some moves to fill out its new App team under former Instacart CEO, Fidji Simo. OpenAI bought an A/B testing company called Statsig, and that company's CEO, Vijaye Raji, will become OpenAI's CTO of apps, running product engineering for ChatGPT and Codex. That moves engineering head Srinivas Narayanan to become OpenAI's CTO of B2B apps for companies and government use. And OpenAI's Chief Product Officer, Kevin Weil, now becomes VP of AI for science, and his product team will report to Fidji Simo.

Cloudflare blocks largest recorded DDoS attack peaking at 11.5 Tbps

SARAH: Cloudflare said it recently blocked the largest volumetric distributed denial-of-service - or DDoS attack, yet recorded. Cloudflare said the attacks peaked at 5.1 billion packets per second and 11.5 Terabits per second. Cloudflare announced a previous record attack of 7.3 Terabits per second on June 20th.

ASML and SK hynix assemble industry-first 'commercial' High-NA EUV system at fab in South Korea | Tom's Hardware

TOM: SK Hynix and ASML announced they have assembled the world's first Twinscan NXE:5200B High-NA EUV lithography system at SK Hynix's fab in Incheon, South Korea. The system speeds up chip-making and enables sub-2 nm nodes. This leaps SK Hynix ahead of Micron and Samsung. It will initially be used to fast-track prototyping, but eventually mass-produce DRAM.

China's Roomba killers sweep up in vacuum market despite US tariffs - Nikkei Asia

SARAH: The IDC estimates that Chinese robotic vacuum makers accounted for 54.1% of shipments in Q1 this year. Roomba-maker iRobot fell from the leading spot in the world to 5th place.

TOM: Those are the essentials for today. Let’s dive a little deeper.

[[IN DEPTH]]
[[Pre-made packages, interviews, discussions. Each is 3-10 mins, Can be dropped on some days.]]

[[SEGMENT A - FROM SCHEDULE]]

SARAH: GM, Ford, Tesla, and others are working on the next generation of EV battery tech: lithium manganese-rich, or LMR batteries, now with more manganese. What is that? Bodie Grimm joined Tom to explain.

[[PROMO]]

TOM: We do live streams! Catch them by becoming a subscriber at youtube.com/dailytechnewsshow.

[[BREAK]]
[[PAUSE]]

[[HELPING EACH OTHER UNDERSTAND]]
[[Short missives from people with experience. Could be written email or pre-recorded from the person.]]

SARAH: We end every episode of DTNS with some shared wisdom. Today, TC has a trick for people who might want to appear as if they are in the same household for.. Whatever reason.

TOM: TC writes:
Regarding YouTube cracking down on the family plan.
Listeners in need may want to check out Tailscale mesh vpn.
It creates a virtual lan, like I used to do with hamachi to play StarCraft with my friends even when we weren’t at a lan party.
But for use with YouTube, one device can advertise itself as an "exit".
If the exit is at the family home, all users can turn on that exit in their Tailscale client, and surf as if they were home.
Or beat their parent in StarCraft.
Up to you.

(Their free plan supports up to 100 devices)

From a many year supporter.
TC

[[DISCUSS]]

SARAH: What are you thinking about? Got some insight into a story? Share it with us feedback@dailytechnewsshow.com

TOM: Thanks to Bodie Grimm and TC for contributing to today’s show. And thank YOU for being along for Daily Tech News Show. You can keep us in business by becoming a patron, at Patreon.com/dtns