Technologies

Epic’s battle with Apple takes a turn as 35 states throw support behind Fortnite maker

Others including Microsoft and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have also filed amicus briefs in support of Epic’s appeal in the Fortnite case.

A group of 35 states, along with Microsoft, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other organizations, have thrown their support behind Epic Games in the Fortnite maker’s legal battle with Apple. In a brief filed Thursday with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, attorneys general for the states argued that the court should overturn the earlier ruling that Apple’s control over its App Store doesn’t violate antitrust laws.

“Apple’s conduct has harmed and is harming mobile app developers and millions of citizens,” they wrote in the brief.

Apple and Epic have been locked in a court fight over how much control the iPhone maker should have over its App Store. Last year, Epic unsuccessfully argued to a US District Judge in California that Apple should be forced to allow app developers more freedom in how they offer apps to iPhone and iPad owners. However, the judge said Apple’s rules against allowing developers to direct users to other payment systems was anti-competitive, and issued an injunction to allow developers to do so in their apps.

In December, Apple scored another win when the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed to delay that injunction. Apple now has until its appeals process with Epic concludes, which could take years.

Critics of Apple, meanwhile, continue to make their case.

“Apple continues to monopolize app-distribution and in-app payment solutions for iPhones, stifle competition, and amass supracompetitive profits within the almost trillion-dollar-a-year smartphone industry,” the attorneys general wrote in the brief.

Apple said it expects Epic’s challenge will fail.

“We’re optimistic that the ruling will be affirmed on appeal,” said an Apple spokesperson in an emailed statement on Friday. “We remain committed to ensuring the App Store is a safe and trusted marketplace for consumers and a great opportunity for developers.”

In total, 10 briefs were filed in the case on Thursday. Microsoft argued that ruling in favor of the iPhone maker could let the company leverage its “control of iOS to foreclose competition” in adjacent markets.

“If Apple is allowed to step between any company with online services and users of iPhones, few areas of the vast mobile economy will be safe from Apple’s interference and eventual dominance,” wrote Microsoft.

The US Department of Justice, which also filed a brief, declined to take a position on the merits of Epic’s and Apple’s arguments, but said the district court “committed several legal errors that could imperil effective antitrust enforcement, especially in the digital economy.” The DOJ specifically called out the court’s interpretation of the Sherman Act, a key US antitrust law passed in 1890, saying it was read “narrowly and wrongly.”

Epic Games declined to comment on the briefs.

Technologies

CNBC Daily Open: Nvidia carries world of AI on its shoulders

Investors wait for Nvidia to set the scene of the biggest market trend in a generation, as its earnings look set to determine the direction of the AI trade.

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Hello, this is Leonie Kidd coming to you from London.

Nvidia is carrying the weight of the AI world on its shoulders. But, with sky-high earnings expectations, can the group led by CEO Jensen Huang actually impress investors?

Read on.

What you need to know today

Nvidia will report earnings after the bell on Wall Street on Wednesday. The AI darling’s blockbuster performance over the last year has driven earnings forecasts higher, adding to the so-called “expectations premium” Nvidia now needs to surpass.

The Street is projecting an eye-watering set of second-quarter sales at over $92 billion, according to FactSet. Cantor Fitzgerald highlighted consensus third-quarter sales expectations of $103.7 billion in a Saturday report.

Over the last year, Nvidia has beaten expectations across all topline metrics, but shares have been sold down the following trading day, according to Bespoke Data.

Hyperscaling test

This quarter, there is one persistent concern among investors: Nvidia’s dependence on the hyperscalers. The company now reports earnings in a way that separates these hyperscalers into its AI cloud, industrial and enterprise pack. Investors have voiced worries about this concentrated dependence on Amazon

Nvidia fell 2.9% on Monday, dropping for a seventh straight day, the longest losing streak since 2022. Shares ended the day 2.2% higher on Tuesday.

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Crude in the red

Oil prices were sharply lower in early trade on Wednesday.

A combination of factors is playing into the session today. Iran and Oman are discussing a joint temporary shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz in an effort to increase traffic through the chokepoint.

This comes as the U.S. administration forges ahead with its plan to use economic sanctions to escalate its war with Tehran.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has submitted a proposed agreement with Saudi Arabia to develop civil nuclear energy. This accord has now been submitted to Congress. A U.S. official told MS NOW that this will only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords.

Retaliation time

Canada has outlined “dollar-for-dollar” retaliatory tariffs that it will impose on over $20 billion of U.S. goods, after trade talks broke down with the Trump administration.

The counter-tariffs range from 15% to 50% and target a wide array of Canadian imports from the U.S., including dairy, seafood, appliances, wood and paper products, and clothes.

Among the most significant are 50% tariffs on American steel and aluminum, doubling the current rate.

The Bessent Bid

The so-called “debasement trade” has found a second wind following Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s intervention in the bond market.

In this environment, assets like crypto and precious metals gain as investors look to hedge against the weaker U.S. dollar and Treasury debt.

— Leonie Kidd

And Finally…

Dolly Parton, queen of country music, dies at 80

Dolly Parton was around six when she wrote her first song: “Little Tiny Tasseltop,” an ode to her corncob doll with corn-silk hair. Her mother stored it preciously in a shoebox.

“I loved that little doll,” Parton wrote decades later. “I expressed myself and my feelings through writing – I’m sure what I was thinking was, ‘Well, Tasseltop has to have a song about her.’”

Parton never stopped making music after that. The irrepressible country music singer, songwriter and actress whose charisma, heartfelt lyrics and business acumen captured the public’s imagination for nearly six decades, died on Tuesday aged 80, her family said in a statement.

— Reuters

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Technologies

Verum Exchange Launches a $10 Bonus for Online Mining of Verum Coin and Bitcoin

Verum Exchange is expanding its online mining capabilities, allowing users to earn a $10 bonus while continuing to mine cryptocurrency directly from their smartphones. The feature is available not only in the currency converter app but also within Verum Messenger.

Online mining has long been part of the Verum ecosystem. Now, the company has added a new incentive to the existing feature — a bonus for participating in online mining.

The concept of online mining is changing the traditional perception of cryptocurrency mining. Users do not need to set up specialized mining equipment at home or deal with complex technical configurations. The feature can be accessed directly through the Verum digital ecosystem.

Verum Exchange: https://exchange.verum.im
Verum Messenger: https://ios.verum.im

Technologies

Supreme Court permits certain Trump mail-in voting restrictions before midterm elections

The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that prevented the Trump administration from implementing new restrictions on mail-in voting, allowing the administration to proceed with its plan to impose new requirements on states ahead of the midterm elections.

The Supreme Court on Monday sided with President Donald Trump for now in his effort to impose sweeping new restrictions on distributing mail ballots, putting on hold a lower-court ruling that had blocked key parts of the plan ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The justices, over three dissents, paused a ruling by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston that prevented the Trump administration from carrying out portions of a March executive order involving the U.S. Postal Service and voter eligibility lists. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.

But the decision does not immediately allow the Postal Service to put its new mail-ballot system into effect.

A separate nationwide injunction issued Aug. 11 by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston still blocks USPS from implementing the new procedures for the Nov. 3 elections. The administration would have to overcome that order as well.

The distinction was central to the Supreme Court’s decision.

The majority said Trump’s executive order itself does not require states to change how they conduct elections. Instead, it directs federal agencies to develop policies that could later impose requirements on states. Because those policies had not yet been implemented when 23 states and Washington, D.C., challenged the order, the court said the challenge was premature.

The justices stressed they were not deciding whether Trump’s order or the policies developed under it are ultimately legal.

“The Court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful,” the majority wrote. “On that score, time will tell.”

The Postal Service last week finalized rules intended to carry out part of Trump’s order, including new requirements involving ballot envelopes, barcodes and information states must provide USPS. Those rules remain blocked by Talwani’s separate injunction.

The case now returns to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as the underlying legal fight continues. Some states have already started preparing to send ballots to military and overseas voters in early September.