- June 16, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Amazon.com Inc. defended their smart-speaker businesses as U.S. senators warned the grip the companies have over the market could harm competition and consumer privacy.
Republicans and Democrats at a hearing Tuesday raised concerns about what they said were anticompetitive practices such as selling devices below cost and promoting their own services over those of competitors on their platforms.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary’s antitrust panel, said the expansion of technology giants into more at-home devices risks further consolidating the market, giving an advantage to established players. She cited a scenario of an Amazon device providing customers the option of buying groceries only from Amazon-owned Whole Foods.
“In home technology, we see some of the most powerful firms that dominate tech today poised to dominate the platforms of…
