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Technology

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The Big Story

Trump lashes out at EU over tech fines

President Trump on Friday slammed the European Union’s (EU) fines against major U.S. tech firms as “discriminatory actions” and threatened to start a trade investigation, opening the door to additional tariffs.

Trump lashed out at the European bloc after it imposed a $3.5 billion fine against Google for violating antitrust rules, accusing it of “effectively taking money that would otherwise go to American Investments and Jobs.”

“Very unfair, and the American Taxpayer will not stand for it!” the president wrote on Truth Social. “As I have said before, my Administration will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to stand.”

He pointed to the EU’s previous fines against both Apple and Google, threatening to start a Section 301 proceeding, which allows the U.S. to investigate and respond to unfair trade practices.

“The European Union must stop this practice against American Companies, IMMEDIATELY!” he added in a separate post.

The EU reportedly held off on fining Google earlier this week amid concerns about how Trump would respond, particularly as it has awaited a U.S. announcement cutting auto tariffs.

Reuters reported that the delay was caused by EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who raised questions about the decision.

Late last month, Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on and restrict chip sales to countries who impose “discriminatory” digital rules or taxes on U.S. tech companies.

“Digital Taxes, Digital Services Legislation, and Digital Markets Regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology,” he wrote, seemingly taking aim the EU’s Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act.

“America, and American Technology Companies, are neither the ‘piggy bank’ nor the ‘doormat’ of the World any longer,” Trump added. “Show respect to America and our amazing Tech Companies or, consider the consequences!”

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, I’m Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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Essential Reads

How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:

States warn OpenAI of ‘serious concerns’ with chatbot

California and Delaware warned OpenAI on Friday that they have “serious concerns” about the AI company’s safety practices in the wake of several recent deaths reportedly connected to ChatGPT. In a letter to the OpenAI board, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings noted they recently met with the firm’s legal team and “conveyed in the strongest terms that safety is a non-negotiable …

Full Story

Google hit with $3.5 billion fine from European Union in ad-tech antitrust case

European Union regulators on Friday hit Google with a 2.95 billion euro ($3.5 billion) fine for breaching the bloc’s competition rules by favoring its own digital advertising services, but the bloc’s latest move to crack down on Big Tech companies drew outrage from President Donald Trump. The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive branch and top antitrust enforcer, also ordered the U.S. tech giant to end …

Full Story

Senators urge Meta, Alphabet to prevent Russian influence in Moldovan elections

A pair of bipartisan senators is urging Meta and Alphabet, the parent companies of social media giants Facebook, Instagram and Google, to prevent Russian influence operations on his social media platforms related to Moldova’s parliamentary elections set for Sept. 28. The bipartisan letter highlights Russia’s continued threat and evolving tactics in working to sway the outcome of foreign elections, particularly in democratic, …

Full Story

Proposed Tesla pay package could make Musk a trillionaire

Tesla has proposed a new pay package for CEO Elon Musk that could make the world’s richest person a trillionaire. The pay package, which is up for consideration at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in November, would grant Musk about 423 million shares in the company if he meets a series of milestones over the next 10 years. At Tesla’s current share price, this amounts to about $145 billion. However, under the agreement, …

Full Story

The Refresh

News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:

Anthropic clamps down on AI services for Chinese-owned firms (Bloomberg)
Warner Bros Discovery sues AI photo generator Midjourney for stealing Superman, Scooby-Doo (Reuters)

Crypto Corner

Crypto billionaire says Trump family tokens frozen

Justin Sun, billionaire founder of the TRON blockchain and early supporter of World Liberty Financial, said late Thursday that his tokens have been “unreasonably frozen.”

Sun has invested $75 million in the Trump family crypto venture since it launched last fall.

“As one of the early major investors in World Liberty Financials, I have contributed not only capital but also my trust and support for the future of this project,” he wrote on X.

He called on the company to unlock his tokens, suggesting that “such measures not only violate the legitimate rights of investors, but also risk damaging broader confidence in World Liberty Financials.”

World Liberty Financial’s token, $WLFI, opened for trading Monday, after the company voted to lift restrictions in July. The digital token began trading at around 20 cents. It currently sits at about 17 cents.

Crypto Corner is a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.

In Other News

Branch out with other reads on The Hill:

Hawley calls for repeal of tech legal shield as AI rises

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Thursday called for the repeal of a law that shields major tech companies from lawsuits over content created on their platforms amid the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides tech firms with immunity from legal challenges over user-generated content, has increasingly come under pressure as society has grappled with the impacts …