Google Was Found to Hold an Illegal Monopoly and Kept It Anyway. Is the Antitrust Nightmare Finally Over?

Berkshire Hathaway's CEO Greg Abel stated that energy infrastructure, particularly grid permitting and interconnection delays, is the biggest constraint for AI data centers, not chip shortages. Data centers already account for 8% of Berkshire Energy's Iowa load. Berkshire invested $6.5 billion in Alphabet at a 6.5% discount, part of a $24 billion Q2 equity push driven by AI conviction. Abel emphasized serving hyperscalers only if existing ratepayers face no rate increases and ideally benefit.

Major U.S. indexes rose on Sept. 2, with the Dow up 0.56%, S&P 500 up 0.47%, and Nasdaq up 0.45%. Dell (DELL) surged 15.81% after raising its annual revenue forecast and reporting strong earnings, with AI-related sales driving growth. Nvidia (NVDA) gained 3.21%. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) fell 9.28% post-earnings. Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) rose slightly after a court ruling on its adtech business. Snowflake (SNOW) and Broadcom (AVGO) reported earnings after hours, with SNOW up 22% and AVGO down 4%.

A federal judge ordered Google to modify its digital ads system but rejected the DOJ's proposal to break up the business. The ruling spares Alphabet Inc., with a $4.11T market value, from a forced sale of ad tech assets. The judge's full opinion remains sealed for 14 days. Google's ad tech handles 55M requests per second, generating nearly $400B in annual ad sales. Critics argue the ruling fails to address anti-competitive practices.

Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in Alphabet to $36.6 billion, making it the third-largest holding in its portfolio. CEO Greg Abel called Alphabet a 'significant player' in AI. The investment grew from an initial $10 billion position, purchased at a 6.5% discount. Alphabet is now valued at approximately $36.6 billion, with 106 million shares owned.

A federal judge ordered Google to modify its digital ads system but rejected the U.S. government's request to break up the company. The ruling spares Alphabet Inc., with a $4.11 trillion market value, from a forced sale of its ad tech. The judge agreed to most remedies proposed by both sides, which may impact Google's revenue or growth. Alphabet's stock has surged 45% since a similar ruling in the search monopoly case.

A federal judge rejected the DOJ's request for Google to divest its AdX ad exchange, accepting most behavioral remedies instead. The ruling ends a 16-month case over Google's advertising technology business. The court's sealed opinion details the accepted remedies, with implementation details to be finalized within 30 days.