Federal And State Authorities Bring Antitrust Enforcement To The Contingent Workforce Sector

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has significantly escalated its antitrust investigation into Nvidia Corp., the world's leading AI chipmaker, by issuing subpoenas not only to Nvidia but also to third-party companies.

Major antitrust developments from August 2026 span multiple jurisdictions, including U.S. court rulings on oil price-fixing and printer cartridge restrictions, FTC quantum computing merger reviews...

Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft has entered a critical second phase, shifting from questions about nonprofit mission betrayal to antitrust and competition law issues.

The General Court of the European Union has upheld the European Commission's prohibition of Booking Holdings' acquisition of eTraveli Group, endorsing for the first time a 'reverse leveraging' theory of harm in conglomerate mergers. This landmark judgment establishes that dominant companies can be blocked from acquiring complementary businesses even when the target operates in a market where the acquirer lacks dominance, fundamentally reshaping merger control enforcement in digital and ecosystem-driven mark

The Department of Justice announced a landmark $250 million settlement with KKR & Co. for allegedly submitting deficient Hart-Scott-Rodino Act notification forms across at least 16 transactions. This unprecedented penalty, the largest ever for HSR violations, raises critical questions about merger notification compliance obligations and the consequences of systemic noncompliance with federal antitrust review requirements.

On August 7, 2026, the Delaware Court of Chancery ordered Verisk Analytics, Inc. to move forward with its purportedly terminated $2.35 billion proposed acquisition of AccuLynx.com.

Prior to the 2010 merger, Live Nation Entertainment was the largest producer, marketer, and seller of live concerts globally, controlling more than 75 concert venues in the United States...

The Justice Department has resumed targeted Second Request investigations to expedite merger reviews, while major entertainment industry consolidation faces legal challenges and the FTC secures record penalties for Hart-Scott-Rodino Act violations. These developments signal a shifting landscape in federal merger enforcement, balancing efficiency with rigorous antitrust scrutiny across multiple industries.

On Wednesday, January 21st, Judge Rita Lin decided that the plaintiffs in the case against Google had sufficient evidence to move forward. The plaintiffs allege that Google violated federal antitrust laws by making...

The U.S. Department of Justice recently closed its investigation into a merger between two leading sales enablement software providers, citing AI competition as a key protective factor against potential competitive harm. This decision offers important insights into how antitrust agencies are evaluating AI-native companies as competitive constraints and implementing more efficient, targeted merger review processes in technology sector transactions.