“The leading firms in research and investment-spending are the same ones we had 20 years ago ― cars,” he said. “The United States used to be the same, autos and pharma, 20 years ago. Now it’s all digital.” China isn’t just catching up. In areas like the electric vehicle industry, it is even leapfrogging Europe. … Read more
“I think if the [European] Parliament got any idea that it was a political decision in order to help the president-elect to get the support of Italy, Parliament would be furious and that could cause gigantic problems for the president,” Vestager told a Thursday press conference. “I find it a bit difficult to understand how … Read more
Vestager warned that artificial intelligence is “developing at breakneck speed.” She said they have “a number of other preliminary antitrust investigations ongoing into various practices in AI-related markets,” without giving any details. “We cannot just sit back and see how things pan out,” she said. “Now is the time to act. Strong competition enforcement is … Read more
With a new Commission in the offing, the EU’s two biggest economies are making their move to change the antitrust rulebook. “We need to review the current European competition rules” to check if they can allow “consortia and consolidation in key sectors” such as mobile networks or airspace “in order to strengthen European resilience,” the … Read more
Lightspeed Commerce is cutting about 280 jobs, less than two months after its founder returned to the helm of the Montreal-based technology company. After integrating the company’s many acquisitions, “Lightspeed is now entering a new phase, one focused on profitable growth to capture the opportunity in front of us,” said founder and chief executive Dax Dasilva. … Read more
The Federal Trade Commission sued to block a proposed merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, the parent company of Shaw’s, saying the $24.6 billion deal would eliminate competition and lead to higher prices for millions of Americans. The FTC filed an administrative complaint against the companies Monday, which will be considered by an administrative … Read more
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has approved RBC’s $13.5-billion takeover of HSBC Canada, despite calls from opposition politicians and other groups to block it over concerns of reduced competition. Freeland’s approval was the last hurdle for the deal after the Competition Bureau approved it in September. The minister’s approval comes with conditions on RBC, including that … Read more
