Technologies

FTC Files Injunction to Block Microsoft’s Activision Deal: What to Know

The deal, if approved, would turn Xbox maker Microsoft into one of the top three video game publishers.

Microsoft continues its fight to complete the $69 billion acquisition of game publisher Activision Blizzard, but the US Federal Trade Commission has added another obstacle in an attempt to block the deal.

The FTC filed an injunction Monday to stop Microsoft’s purchase of Activision before the July 18 deadline, as reported earlier by CNBC. This comes several months after the commission filed a lawsuit against the tech giant over the acquisition saying the deal would «enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription and cloud-gaming business.»

Microsoft first announced its plans to acquire Activision Blizzard in January 2022. Closing the deal would turn Xbox maker Microsoft into one of the top three video game publishers, right behind rival Sony. Activision Blizzard is one of the largest third-party publishers, with some major franchises that would give a much-needed boost to Microsoft’s games catalog, including Call of Duty, Candy Crush and Overwatch.

Although Microsoft has won a few merger-related battles, it still has hurdles to clear.

Who’s left to approve the deal?

Microsoft has yet to receive approval from regulators in the US. The FTC’s lawsuit from December and the injunction on Monday hamper the deal from receiving approval.

The injunction is sought to «maintain the status quo and prevent interim harm to competition during the pendency of the FTC’s administrative proceeding to determine whether the Proposed Acquisition violates US antitrust law,» the filing says.

The FTC’s suit «should accelerate the decision-making process,» Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith tweeted late Monday. «This benefits everyone. We always prefer constructive and amicable paths with governments but have confidence in our case and look forward to presenting it,» he added.

A hearing is set for Aug. 2 regarding the lawsuit.

The UK is another major country that has yet to sign off on the deal. In April, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority blocked the $69 billion deal, saying it would result in higher prices and fewer choices for gamers. Microsoft’s appeal to the ruling says the CMA «made fundamental errors in its calculation and assessment of market share data for cloud gaming services by failing to take account of constraints from native gaming (whereby gamers access games installed on their devices through a digital download or physical disc).»

Microsoft has continued to deny that the deal would hamper competition within the video game industry and continues to negotiate with regulators to get approval.

What does this deal mean for gamers?

For Xbox Game Pass subscribers, the deal means Activision Blizzard’s catalog of games will be incorporated into the service, likely similar to how Bethesda games were when Microsoft acquired that company in 2020.

How gamers who don’t have an Xbox, and instead use a Sony PlayStation or Nintendo Switch console, will be affected is less clear. Critics of the deal are concerned that Microsoft could make future games developed by Activision unavailable on rival consoles. (Microsoft did just this for games developed by Bethesda.) This is especially concerning for a major Activision title like Call of Duty.

Microsoft already agreed to a 10-year deal with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty games to its consoles, but Sony reportedly rejected a similar agreement. Sony remains against the deal and continues to submit filings to regulators about its concerns over the acquisition.

What is cloud gaming?

Cloud gaming is the technology to stream video games remotely to a device such as a phone, tablet or smart TV. While the technology has been around for more than a decade, it’s only in recent years that it’s really taken off, thanks in part to it being an added feature for Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass and Sony’s PS Plus.

Other companies developed their own cloud gaming services, such as Amazon’s Luna and GeForce Now. The former made an agreement with Microsoft in February to bring more of its games to the service over the next 10 years.

Technologies

Switching to T-Mobile’s Better Value Family Plan Could Save You Over $1,000 Per Year

With three or more lines, you get great benefits like free streaming services, satellite connectivity and more.

If you’re looking to cut down on your monthly cell bill, you may want to switch to T-Mobile. Starting at just $140 per month, its new Better Value family plan is already cheaper than some competitors. Plus, it comes with a range of free services and benefits that can save you up to $1,000 per year compared to AT&T or Verizon.

It’s important to note that you need at least three lines of service to be on this plan. If you’re switching from another carrier, you’ll need to port in at least two existing numbers. T-Mobile is also offering a five-year price guarantee, so you don’t have to worry about unexpected costs down the line.

In addition to unlimited 5G data and 250GB of hotspot data every month, the Better Value family plan comes with all kinds of other benefits. You’ll get T-Satellite for free, which uses the Starlink network for unlimited texting and data on specific apps. Other benefits include 30GB of data while abroad in over 215 countries, as well as a free Netflix and Hulu subscription.

Why this deal matters

The benefits you get with T-Mobile’s new Better Value family plan can save you more than $1,000 per year compared to AT&T and Verizon. You can only sign up for a limited time, however, so take advantage of these savings while you can.

Technologies

‘Fat Fingers’ May Have Caused Verizon’s Network Outage, According to Analyst

Verizon hasn’t shared details of what caused Wednesday’s massive service blackout, but a network expert shared what he thinks happened.

Verizon suffered a service outage on Wednesday that affected potentially 2 million customers and dragged on for more than 8 hours. Late in the evening, the company declared the outage resolved and advised affected customers to restart their devices in order to be reconnected. It also promised those customers a $20 credit.

We don’t know what caused the disruption. Verizon didn’t immediately respond to a request for clarity on the issue.

The company did say that the problem was a «software issue» and that there was no indication that the cause was due to a «cybersecurity issue» in a statement to TechRadar Thursday morning.

The loss in service was unique for its longevity and because it wasn’t region-specific and affected people across the US, unlike previous cellular outages. When natural disasters take down cellular towers or hardware failures happen, the effects are felt in specific cities or areas. We saw reports (and CNET staffers chimed in) of service being down in New York; Florida; Hawaii, Los Angeles; Oakland, California; and other far-flung spots.

Until Verizon shares more information, we can piece together some possibilities.

Analyst Roger Entner of Recon Analytics, a telecommunications research firm, suspects that a feature update went awry, based on how devices were affected. «It looks like their 5G SA (Standalone) core went down during a minor feature change,» he wrote to CNET.

Entner noted that the outage was limited to new high-end devices in selected markets where Verizon’s 5G SA core is deployed, which is why the outage wasn’t felt everywhere. The term 5G SA core refers to a network that uses only 5G technology and doesn’t rely on older 4G LTE infrastructure.

Entner also suggested the outage’s timing was unusual. «When carriers do massive upgrades, they do that between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. in the morning,» he said. «A noon start for the crash indicates ‘fat fingers’ for a smaller change that cascaded through the system.»

This is a developing story. Follow all of CNET’s Verizon news for more about the network outage.

Technologies

ChatGPT Has a New Language Translation Option for You

It’s like Google Translate, but ChatGPT.

OpenAI is putting Google Translate on notice: It now has a dedicated ChatGPT Translate webpage that can convert writing in 50 languages. At first glance it looks like a basic text-to-text translator that resembles Google Translate and other simple language translation tools on the web. But scrolling down the page reveals more about OpenAI’s ambitions for Translate.

You’ll come across a line that mentions adding voice or an image (for instance, a photo of a sign) to get a translation, although the page doesn’t indicate when those capabilities will become available.

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OpenAI’s breakout of Translate comes as its chief competitor, Google, is aggressively deploying AI to support features like live translations using headphones and new language learning tools. In 2024, Google added 110 languages to its translations.

Language translation is a hot field for artificial intelligence in general. At CES 2026 last week, for instance, CNET’s Macy Meyer tried out a phone-sized device and companion headphones that let her carry on a live conversation with a Polish speaker even though she doesn’t speak Polish herself.

The skills that ChatGPT Translate currently provides are things you can already do in the chatbot itself. In fact, once you translate text on the webpage, ChatGPT offers a set of sample prompts as one-click buttons for what you can do with that text, such as «translate this and make it sound more fluent» or «translate this as if you’re explaining it to a child.»

Selecting one of those prompts takes you to a ChatGPT conversation where options like image uploads are readily available.

OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)