A critical moment
Google breakup, BMC split, Amazon robots, Discord bans, Wimbledon AI. Plus: Port automation, Iceland’s illicit activity.
Good morning. Tough news out of western Florida, where Hurricane Milton has left more than two million people without electricity, among other disruptions.
Readers in the affected area should stop reading this newsletter and start reviewing this list of what to do now. Not you? The news below. —Andrew Nusca
P.S. If you’re lucky enough to be in attendance at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women summit next week, I’ll see you there. Please say hello.
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DOJ threatens Google’s future
The U.S. Justice Department has recommended changes to Google—including a very big one—after the company was found to have violated antitrust laws.
The agency’s most far-reaching suggestion is to break up Google, perhaps by slicing off Android or Chrome—each of which has been critical in establishing Google’s illegal monopoly in search and search ads.
The DOJ has also floated ideas that could stop Google from using its existing dominance to control the expected AI search era, which is just now getting underway.
One suggestion is to let web publishers stop Google from using their content in its “AI overviews,” or summaries, within search results. Those same web publishers would still be able to have their content show up in Google’s search results as links.
Another option would be to block the kind of deal that Google struck with online message board Reddit earlier this year, which effectively stops other search providers from offering useful links to that content.
Google says hampering its AI tools “risks holding back American innovation at a critical moment.” The two sides will have the opportunity to argue about the suggestions at an April trial, after which the judge will decide whether to go with the nuclear option—the breakup—or a more limited remedy. —David Meyer
Big Iron breakup: Meet the baby BMCs
Business tech provider BMC Software is splitting itself into two independent, private companies.
Starting in early 2025, one company will keep the BMC name and focus on its longtime business selling mainframe computers (yes, those still exist) and business automation, which accounts for roughly two thirds of BMC’s $2.3 billion in revenue. The other company, to be christened BMC Helix, will work on digital services and operations management.
It’s a surprising change of plans for the Houston-based company, which had confidentially filed to go public in 2023, according to a Bloomberg report. BMC CEO Ayman Sayed told the outlet that the split is motivated by the global economy emerging from a “slow-down period” as interest rates fall and markets respond favorably.
The baby BMCs will continue to be owned by private equity giant KKR and minority shareholder Access Industries.
What’s next for the two companies? Sayed didn’t pull any punches: “Whether it’s an IPO or private transaction, all options are available.” —Jenn Brice
Russia and Turkey block access to Discord
Can you even call yourself a strong government if you haven’t banned Discord?
Officials in Ankara and Moscow have reportedly blocked access to the popular (if nerdy) communication service, which is headquartered in San Francisco. On its website, Discord said it was “aware of reports of Discord being unreachable in Russia and Turkey” and was “investigating.”
The reasons appear to be similar. Turkish authorities blocked access to Discord “due to the existence of sufficient suspicion that the crimes of ‘child sexual abuse and obscenity,’” according to a translation of a statement from Turkey’s justice minister.
Russian authorities meanwhile banned Discord “to prevent the use of the messenger for terrorist and extremist purposes, recruitment of citizens to commit them, sale of drugs, and in connection with the posting of illegal information”—though as a Washington Post report notes, the service is also used readily by the Russian military to coordinate units on the battlefield in Ukraine. Oops.
Before you wave away the bans as anti-Western behavior—though that’s not false, particularly for Russia—it’s worth noting that Discord was sued in its home country in 2022 for enabling sexual predators. That case is not yet resolved. —AN
Amazon’s robot takeover is actually just starting
Amazon warehouses have developed a reputation for a lot of things, but the company wouldn’t mind if it were “robots.” On Tuesday, the tech giant unveiled its most futuristic facility ever—a massive complex the size of 55 football fields that should fast become a robot nerds play land.
The building, newly opened in Shreveport, Louisiana, is the first to integrate eight of Amazon’s robot systems in one location, from giant AI-powered robotic arms with names like Cardinal and Sparrow to autonomous mobile robots called Proteus that resemble oversized Roombas.
The goal, Amazon says, is to reduce both shipping speeds and costs, while improving the safety of human workers.
Ah, humans! Yes, they have a role, too. The company says the building will eventually employ as many as 2,500 of them in jobs that either assist the robots or do tasks that the droids can’t yet do.
While that employee count is well below staff sizes at smaller older company warehouses, Amazon promises the new jobs will prove to be some combination of safer or better-paying or more rewarding. Rivals (and the Teamsters) will be watching. —Jason Del Rey
Wimbledon declares game, set, match against human line judges
Wimbledon’s elegantly dressed line judges are losing their jobs.
All matches at next year’s championship will feature electronic line calling, the tennis tournament’s organizer announced Wednesday, upending 147 years of tradition.
The change puts Wimbledon in line with most other major pro tennis events, which have used technology to call lines for some time. Wimbledon tested the automated system last year and determined that it’s accurate enough to fully deploy.
Previously, Wimbledon let players “challenge,” or review, line calls made by humans a limited number of times per match, using an electronic system.
Pro tennis players generally prefer electronic line calling because it makes fewer mistakes. Humans, understandably, have trouble seeing whether a serve hit at 130 mph is out by a millimeter or two.
But don’t count on Wimbledon’s new tech reality ending on-court squabbling (John McEnroe’s outbursts are perhaps the best known of the genre). Players will still have human chair umpires to complain to, at least for now. —Verne Kopytoff
More data
—The automation battle at U.S. ports is on. In the words of Frank Sobotka, I take the fifth commandment.
—New Amazon Ring video doorbell subscription plans. Big changes in features and price.
—Meta AI expands its footprint. Six more countries get the tech, and two more—UK and AU—get it on smart glasses.
—Iceland: “Global hub for illicit activity.” This is really going to spoil my recent Björk kick, isn’t it?
—Yet another attempt at unmasking Satoshi Nakamoto. This time it’s an HBO documentary.
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