Press and Headlines

Google makes lots of money but has had a miserable year in court, and its judicial travails are far from over.

‘Monopoly Man’ tries to make his case

Senate leaders convened a private summit on artificial intelligence Wednesday, bringing together some of the most powerful executives from Silicon Valley and leaders from civil rights and labor groups to discuss the technology’s potential and danger.

A former Google honcho testified Wednesday that the number of executives working to win default status with mobile carriers grew dramatically when he was with the company as the government’s landmark antitrust case against the search giant kicked into high gear.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, center, with his wife Priscilla Chan, arrives for a closed-door gathering of leading tech CEOs to discuss the priorities and risks surrounding artificial intelligence and how it should be regulated, past a crowd of media and a protester dressed as the Monopoly Man, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Kent Walker, President of Global Affairs and Chief legal officer of Alphabet Inc., is followed by protester Ian Madrigal of Baltimore dressed as Mr. Monopoly following the first day of the United States v. Google LLC antitrust trial at federal court on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in Washington.

A progressive activist group deployed a creative — and creepy — technique to make a point about congressional Democrats' complicity in Big Tech’s power.

A tech-centric advocacy group, Demand Progress Action, released a video featuring deepfaked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, thanking congress for their inaction on tech antitrust bills.

‘The Zuck is fake but the message is real,’ Demand Progress ad campaign states

Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow discuss how a new activist ad is taking aim at Big Tech by using deepfakes to mock a lack of oversight.

The Monopoly Man, AKA Rich Uncle Pennybags, has been a staple at big tech hearings on Capitol Hill.

An activist group will launch an ad campaign Tuesday featuring a fake video of Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg thanking Congress for failing to take action against the biggest tech companies.

A tech advocacy group used a deep fake of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an ad mocking Congress for inaction over antitrust reform and urged a vote on a pair of bipartisan bills before the end of the year.

In the streets of the nation's capital and on its cable television networks, progressives are demanding that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer immediately schedule votes on a pair of antitrust bills designed to rein in Big Tech's growing power—something he promised to do by "early summer."

About two dozen anti-Big Tech activists, some in costume, stalked a DC fundraiser hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday evening to demand that he call a vote on pending antitrust legislation.

Ian Madrigal, the activist known for photobombing congressional hearings as the Monopoly Man, used April Fools’ Day to tweet that they “toast[ed] Big Tech for courageously lobbying to protect the status quo and stalling #antitrust reform in Congress.” Piggybacking on the dueling antitrust lobbying, Madrigal touted a “day of inaction” and teased upcoming events to save monopolies.

Calling All Monopoly Men and Women!*

*(Nonbinary folks are known to be staunch anti-capitalists)

APRIL FOOLS FROM MONOPOLY MAN — The top hat-wearing mustachioed performance artist known as Monopoly Man is back on the Hill today, celebrating “Big Tech’s Day of Inaction.” “We will stand up and say thank you to Congress for continuing to not take action” against Big Tech, Monopoly Man told MT.

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing with Google CEO Sundar Pichai testifying, policy attorney Ian Madrigal is also Monopoly Man who photo bombs high profile congressional hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Tuesday December 11, 2018.