US seeks break-up of Google's ad-tech products after judge finds illegal monopoly
The judge set a September trial date on Friday after hearing from Google and the justice department on potential remedies for the company's dominance in ad tools used by online publishers.
The justice department said the proposed remedies, including divestitures, are necessary to end Google's monopolies and restore competition in the ad-exchange and publisher ad-server markets.
Google has said the company supported behavioural remedies such as making real-time bids available to competitors, but prosecutors cannot legally pursue a bid to force it to sell parts of its business.
'The department of justice's additional proposals to force a divestiture of our ad-tech tools go well beyond the court's findings, have no basis in law and would harm publishers and advertisers,' Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's vice president of regulatory affairs, said in a statement to Reuters.
AdX, or Ad Exchange, is a marketplace where publishers can make their unsold ad space available to advertisers for purchase on a real-time basis. Publisher ad servers are platforms used by websites to store and manage their digital ad inventory.
Along with ad exchanges, the technology lets news publishers and other online content providers make money by selling ads.
Last year, Google took a major step to end an EU antitrust investigation with an offer to sell AdX, but European publishers rejected the proposal as insufficient.
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eNCA
a day ago
- eNCA
AI robots fill in for weed killers and farm hands
LOS ANGELES - Oblivious to the punishing midday heat, a wheeled robot powered by the sun and infused with artificial intelligence carefully combs a cotton field in California, plucking out weeds. As farms across the United States face a shortage of labourers and weeds grow resistant to herbicides, startup Aigen says its robotic solution -- named Element -- can save farmers money, help the environment and keep harmful chemicals out of food. "I really believe this is the biggest thing we can do to improve human health," co-founder and chief technology officer Richard Wurden told AFP, as robots made their way through crops at Bowles Farm in the town of Los Banos. "Everybody's eating food sprayed with chemicals." Wurden, a mechanical engineer who spent five years at Tesla, went to work on the robot after relatives who farm in Minnesota told him weeding was a costly bane. Weeds are becoming immune to herbicides, but a shortage of laborers often leaves chemicals as the only viable option, according to Wurden. "No farmer that we've ever talked to said 'I'm in love with chemicals'," added Aigen co-founder and chief executive Kenny Lee, whose background is in software. "They use it because it's a tool -- we're trying to create an alternative." Element the robot resembles a large table on wheels, solar panels on top. Metal arms equipped with small blades reach down to hoe between crop plants. "It actually mimics how humans work," Lee said as the temperature hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) under a cloudless sky. "When the sun goes down, it just powers down and goes to sleep; then in the morning it comes back up and starts going again." AFP | Josh Edelson The robot's AI system takes in data from on-board cameras, allowing it to follow crop rows and identify weeds. "If you think this is a job that we want humans doing, just spend two hours in the field weeding," Wurden said. Aigen's vision is for workers who once toiled in the heat to be "upskilled" to monitor and troubleshoot robots. Along with the on-board AI, robots communicate wirelessly with small control centres, notifying handlers of mishaps. - Future giant? - Aigen has robots running in tomato, cotton, and sugar beet fields, and touts the technology's ability to weed without damaging the crops. Lee estimated that it takes about five robots to weed 65 hectares of farm. AFP | Josh Edelson The robots made by the 25-person startup -- based in the city of Redmond, outside Seattle -- are priced at $50,000. The company is focused on winning over politically conservative farmers with a climate-friendly option that relies on the sun instead of costly diesel fuel that powers heavy machinery. "Climate, the word, has become politicized but when you get really down to brass tacks farmers care about their land," Lee said. The technology caught the attention of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the e-commerce giant's cloud computing unit. Aigen was chosen for AWS's "Compute for Climate" fellowship program that provides AI tools, data center power, and technical help for startups tackling environmental woes. "Aigen is going to be one of the industry giants in the future," said AWS head of climate tech startups business development Lisbeth Kaufman. "I think about Ford and the Model T, or Edison and the light bulb -- that's Kenny and Rich and Aigen."
The Citizen
a day ago
- The Citizen
Volvo EX90 an electric marvel made unnecessarily complicated
EX90 debuts as the most technology advanced Volvo ever made, but perhaps too much and with a minimalistic design not everyone will take an immediate liking to. EX90 not only tops Volvo's local market range, but debuts LiDAR in South Africa as per the 'London taxi' recess in the centre of the roof. Image: Hanro Venter The Volvo EX90 has been a topic of much reporting since its local market launch earlier this year, but probably not for reasons the Chinese-owned Swedish brand had been hoping for. Aside from debuting as the effective all-electric version of the XC90 just under three years ago, the EX90 also introduced the second generation Scalable Production Architecture platform called SPA2 designed specifically for EV propulsion without the need for a combustion engine. Too little becomes too much The biggest controversy surrounded the EX90's overly minimalist interior lifted directly from the EX30. A design involving the majority of physical switchgear, including the glovebox release and adjusting the mirrors and steering wheel moving to the 14.5-inch infotainment system, the EX90 instantly drew backlash for being overly complicated and too minimalist for its own good. ALSO READ: All-electric Volvo EX90 impressive on paper and in the metal Adding further furore were the less than adequate touch-sensitive switches on the steering wheel and the typical Chinese car irritation of the Driver Attention Monitor that beeps every time your eyes are off the road for even the slightest moment. While initial upshots included a digital instrument cluster, unlike the EX30, and a BMW iDrive-esque rotary dial for the audio system, the EX90's arrival for the weeklong test came with a fair amount of apprehension based also on utterings made aboard. Side profile reminds strongly of the XC90, while the rear is more distinctive. Image: Hanro Venter Officially the most powerful production Volvo ever made, the difficulties in getting to grips with the cabin's ergonomics, which borders on the ridiculous for even requiring the driver to select which windows needs to be raised or lowered via a split function button on the door, threatened to spoil the test period right from the get-go. Simplification needed The EX90's quirks don't stop there as unlike any other EV or combustion engine vehicle, it doesn't have a starter button or at best, a switch for the handbrake. Instead, flicking the steering column-mounted gear lever to Reverse or Drive switches the ignition on, while selecting Park turns it off while also applying the electronic handbrake. Interior has been the biggest point of criticism for having all of the major functions located within the 14.5-inch infotainment display. Image: Hanro Venter A concept futuristic and praiseworthy it might be, in practice, it is nothing but frustrating, not helped by the Google Android-powered operating system for the infotainment system being complex with too many sub-menus and less 'activation' icons. What's more the quality of the surround-view camera system came with poor resolution, a complete opposite of the excellent Bowers & Wilkins audio system with Dolby Atmos surround sound technology. Styling done right The difficulties in getting to grips with the interior is unfortunate as aesthetically, the minimalistic execution works significantly better. Besides the absence of a traditional grille, the trademark Thor's Hammer LED headlight design has been kept, but revised with selective didoes and extended to flow down the bumper in a supposed 'one-piece' look. Volvo has equipped the EX90 with specially designed 22-inch aero alloy wheels. Image: Hanro Venter Mounted on 22-inch aero wheels supposed to help with efficiency, the side profile is, once again, XC90 derived, though the rear is distinctive with a split light design in which the main clusters are separated from the top in a curved L-shape. An area the EX90 doesn't disappoint in, helped by its Vapour Grey exterior colour, the design not only looks stylish and elegant, but aggressive and even imposing in the same manner as when the current pre-facelift XC90 debuted a decade ago. Hello LiDAR Of particular interest is the first-time application of LiDAR technology in South Africa using what onlookers described as a London taxi-style recess in the centre of the roof. Volvo's latest innovation in its focus on safety, the system is made-up of 16 ultrasonic sensors, eight cameras and five radars capable of scanning the road up to 250 metres in front. Relaying the 'image' it sees, whether it be cars, pedestrians and even trucks or motorcycles on the thin digital cluster, the graphics looked somewhat on the cheap side and more of a rush job during the development phase. On its own merit though, the LiDAR works a treat, though the same cannot be said for the various glitches experienced during the seven days. From messages ranging from Electronic Stability Control failure to the one pedal function no longer being available, the glitches would suddenly disappear without any 'resetting' after a few seconds and remain operational. A bizarre occurrence that once again questions the long-term reliability of the various system, one area the EX90 didn't disappoint was ride quality Smooth and settled ride Equipped with a Volvo-first adaptive air suspension, the ride is smooth and so absorbing that the trek to Gerotek to test its figures, saw it iron-out the bad sections of the under construction R104 with laudable ease. Aside from the damping that resulted in no body scuttle or a lumpy ride, the EX90 felt composed and comfortable with no rattles or squeaks being present until its tenure had ended. Space and comfort success Unsurprisingly spacious, the cabin feels airy and despite the imitation wood, solid and soft in construction as the majority of the materials are made from recycled textiles. These include the seat fabric and on the dashboard as the EX90 is also the first Volvo to be offered without the option of leather. Also missing, which will prove concerning during the summer months, is a roller blind for the fixed glass roof. In its place, the roof automatically becomes tinted to the outside world, however, a rise in temperature will likely still result in an overly hot cabin and too much sunshine resulting in an overly hot cabin, but glaring on the infotainment display. As with the XC90, the EX90 provides seating for seven, though the third row is really only for small children. That being said, practically is still top of mind as boot space increases from 324-litres with all seven seats up, to 697-litres with the third row folded away. Dropping the middle row frees up an additional 619-litres for a total utility space of 1 316-litres. If not enough, oddment space inside amounts a further 72-litres while the lack of an engine means up to 46 litres can be stored underneath the bonnet. Monstrous EV punch The EX90's biggest highlight, however, resides underneath. Integrated into the chassis, the 111-kWh battery pack powers an electric motor on each axle. A layout that makes the EX90 all-wheel-drive from the start, its output of 380 kW makes it only 30 kW more powerful than the plug-in hybrid XC90 T8 Recharge. What matters most is the 910 Nm of torque. EX90 officially becomes the most powerful production Volvo ever made. Image: Hanro Venter Brisk and prone to more than a few giggles when stepping on the 'silent pedal', the EX90 accelerates with no lag and so quickly that it becomes addictive. Unlike the XC90, a Dynamic mode isn't provided as this has been replaced by what Volvo calls Performance mode. Activated by an icon at the base of the infotainment system, the EX90 becomes a different animal with rapid and immediate acceleration representing almost the opposite of what a Volvo does, despite it being electric. Rapid Volvo to the next level The trek to Gerotek was, therefore, only logical despite thoughts of it bettering the EX30's 0-100 km/h time of 3.9 seconds being unheard off. Instead, with Mark behind the wheel, the EX90 clocked a best time of 4.6 seconds, almost a second faster than the XC90 T8 Recharge tested last year, and just under three-tenths quicker than Volvo's own claim. Requiring some restrained as a result of its 2 712 kg kerb mass, which makes it one of the heaviest vehicles The Citizen has ever tested at Gerotek or reviewed, the mentioned one-pedal function proved its worth in abundance when not glitching In essence, this uses the regenerative braking to automatically apply the anchors when lifting off the throttle. Question of range Another area where the EX90's weight isn't felt compared to using the actual brake pedal, charging proved equally fuss-free, but with the obvious caveat of the range not matching Volvo's claim. In total, the 450 km covered during the seven days required three visits to the plug, the longest requiring a waiting time of one hour 25 minutes as 59.61-kWh had to be fed back into the battery. Short charging from 30-60% took just over 30 minutes and came with a range of 250 km, or an indicated battery capacity of 60%. Despite Volvo claiming a range of 604 km, two of the three charges to 100% came with an indicated reachable distance of 450 km and 440 km respectively. Subjectively, without draining the battery by planting the accelerator, a range of just under 500 km could be plausible, but only with extensive care being taken and only in the confines of town driving. In further contradiction of Volvo's claim, the EX90 achieved an indicated electric usage best of 22.1-kWh/100 km, still commendable given its weight and size. Conclusion As much as Volvo deserves recognition and applause for its performance and promise of luxury, the EX90 Ultra Twin Performance, to give it its full name, is unnecessarily complicated to understand and arguably still too tech advanced for those keen on wanting it. A visual stunner and representing something different, it feels undone and will need to be a 'want at any cost' buy for its R2 650 000 asking price to be justified over its combustion engine rivals from BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Road Test Data ALSO READ: Volvo's flagship all-electric EX90 approved for South Africa
eNCA
2 days ago
- eNCA
France says 'major issues' remain despite brandy price accord with China
PARIS - France on Friday praised China's steps to settle a trade dispute over European brandy imports but warned that "major issues" remained unresolved. The signs of a thaw in the row over the alcohol came as China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met French President Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. In recent months China and the European Union have butted heads over Beijing's generous subsidies for its domestic industries. Beijing launched an investigation last year into EU brandy, months after the bloc undertook a probe into Chinese electric vehicle (EV) subsidies. In the latest salvo, China will from Saturday require European brandy exporters to raise prices or risk anti-dumping taxes of up to 34.9 percent. Beijing said 34 European brandy makers, including several French cognac producers, had signed an accord to avoid tariffs as long as they stick to an agreed minimum price. France's cognac makers' association BNIC, which includes key producers Hennessy, Remy Cointreau and Martell, confirmed that some companies had agreed to price increases in China to avoid anti-dumping taxes. Macron and Barrot praised China's steps to resolve the dispute but stressed they would discuss the outstanding differences with Wang. In a statement to AFP, Barrot said: "Several major issues remain unresolved, in particular the exclusion of certain players from the scope of the exemptions." "We remain fully committed to reaching a definitive solution based on the conditions that existed prior to the investigation," he said. Wang has held fraught meetings in several European countries this week. After meeting Macron and Barrot, Wang told a press conference: "The two sides had in-depth, active and sincere exchanges on Sino-French and European relations." No mention was made of the brandy dispute.
