Satya Nadella hits out at ‘dominant’ Google during US antitrust case, says 'You can call it popular, but…'

livemint.com:

echo a similar case brought against Microsoft in the late 1990s. Nadella said Google's dominance was due to agreements that made it the default browser on smartphones and computers. He downplayed the idea that artificial intelligence or more niche search engines like Amazon or social media sites have meaningfully changed the market in which Microsoft competes with Google.

Nadella said users fundamentally don't have much choice in switching out of default web browsers on cell phones and computers. “We are one of the alternatives but we’re not the default," he said. Google's lead litigator John Schmidtlein questioned Nadella about instances when users switched from Bing to Google even when Microsoft's search engine had default status on their devices — arguing that Microsoft made missteps with Bing that prevented it from rivaling Google.

When questioned, Nadella denied that Bing's adoption of artificial intelligence had led to dramatic shifts in its market share. Google has argued that artificial intelligence programs like chatbot ChatGPT have increased competition in the search engine market. “Even the app store downloads are interesting but not ...

something you write home about," Nadella said about Microsoft's revamped search engine enhanced with artificial intelligence. Nadella was called to the witness stand as the biggest U.S. antitrust trial in the past quarter-century moved into its fourth week of testimony before U.S.

District Judge Amit Mehta, who isn’t expected to issue a decision in the case until next year. The Justice Department's antitrust case against Google centers on deals the company struck with Apple and other device makers to use Google’s search engine. In the 1990s, Microsoft faced accusations it set