Alphabet’s Google is expected to face a modest antitrust fine from the European Commission in the coming weeks over allegations of anti-competitive conduct in its adtech business, three people familiar with the matter have told Reuters.

The decision follows a four-year-long investigation triggered by a complaint from the European Publishers Council, which accused Google of favoring its own advertising services over rival platforms. The charges, formally laid out in 2023, have kept pressure on Google at a time when its global ad business remains dominant. In 2024, Google generated $264.6 billion from advertising — accounting for 75.6% of its total revenue.

EU competition chief Teresa Ribera, who took over from Margrethe Vestager, is signalling a change in Brussels’ enforcement style. Unlike Vestager, who levied record-breaking penalties such as the €4.3 billion fine in 2018 for Android-related abuses, Ribera is prioritizing behavioral remedies to curb anti-competitive practices rather than headline-grabbing deterrent fines.

“The focus now is to push companies to change how they operate, rather than punish them with massive penalties,” one person with knowledge of Ribera’s approach said.

Google, for its part, has pushed back. In a 2023 blog post, the company criticized what it called the Commission’s flawed reading of the adtech sector, insisting publishers and advertisers “have enormous choice.” While the fine is expected to be modest, Google is unlikely to face structural remedies such as a forced sell-off of its DoubleClick for Publishers or AdX exchange platforms — a divestiture that Vestager once floated. Ribera’s team believes such drastic steps may not be necessary, particularly as a U.S. judge has already scheduled a September trial to consider remedies for Google’s dominance in digital ad tools used by publishers.

A Broader Transatlantic Clash

The looming EU fine comes amid heightened friction between Washington and Brussels over the regulation of U.S. technology companies. President Donald Trump, who has long bristled at Europe’s assertive regulatory stance, threatened Monday to impose substantial tariffs and export restrictions on any country that enforces digital taxes or rules he says “discriminate” against American firms such as Google, Meta, Amazon, and Apple.

“Digital taxes, legislation, rules or regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American technology,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He argued that while Europe and the UK impose levies such as the 2% digital services tax, China’s tech giants are “outrageously given a complete pass.”

Trump warned: “Unless these discriminatory actions are removed, I, as president of the United States, will impose substantial additional tariffs on that country’s exports to the USA, and institute export restrictions on our highly protected technology and chips.”

European officials have touted a pushback against Trump’s tariffs through regulatory scrutiny of U.S. tech firms. French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, urged his ministers to prepare retaliatory options that could directly target the U.S. digital sector.

“Europe should not exclude taking a look at the digital sector” in formulating its response, Macron said, according to a senior French official who spoke to Politico on condition of anonymity. The French leader pointed to the EU’s negative trade balance in services with the U.S., contrasting it with Washington’s repeated demands that Europe reduce its trade surplus in goods such as cars, pharmaceuticals, and food.

A Cycle of Retaliation

The escalating tensions are reviving concerns of a broader transatlantic trade rift. Trump’s threat of tariffs on European exports mirrors earlier confrontations over steel, aluminium, and autos, while the EU’s scrutiny of Silicon Valley giants is increasingly seen in Washington as a disguised form of economic retaliation.

For Google, the modest adtech fine may only be the latest chapter in its long battle with European regulators, following earlier multibillion-euro penalties in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Crypto exchanges are undergoing significant transformations to adapt to evolving market dynamics, regulatory landscapes, and user demands. Exchanges are increasingly catering to institutional investors, who are driving significant capital inflows.

For instance, platforms like Bullish are targeting institutional clients with stable, recurring revenue models, leveraging sophisticated infrastructure like segregated cold storage and prime-broker desks to meet fiduciary standards. This shift is fueled by the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs and growing institutional adoption, with trading volumes reaching $19 trillion in 2024, more than double the previous year’s $8.7 trillion.

Exchanges are navigating fragmented global regulations to maintain competitiveness. The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, fully enforced by December 2024, has made Europe attractive for exchanges, with countries like Luxembourg and France serving as entry points. Similarly, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority offers rapid approvals and zero corporate tax, positioning it as a hub for Middle East operations.

Exchanges like Bullish are also pursuing licenses like New York’s BitLicense to expand market access. Exchanges are expanding beyond traditional trading. For example, Binance has introduced tools like the Binance Wallet Extension for seamless Web3 access, supporting DeFi and cross-chain asset management.

Coinbase is enhancing DEX trading on its Base platform to offer broader asset access. Some exchanges are also integrating tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and stablecoin services, with firms like Mastercard providing infrastructure for stablecoin payments in regions like Europe and Africa.

In response to hacks and fraud, exchanges are bolstering security. Binance, for instance, is part of the Beacon Network, a real-time crypto crime response system developed with TRM Labs to prevent illicit fund transfers. Meanwhile, exchanges are addressing vulnerabilities exposed by incidents like the $44 million CoinDCX breach in India, focusing on robust infrastructure and compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements.

Major financial institutions are partnering with exchanges to bridge crypto and traditional finance. JPMorgan’s collaboration with Coinbase to allow Chase credit card funding for crypto purchases starting in fall 2025 is a notable example. Additionally, firms like Citigroup are exploring stablecoin custody, reflecting a broader trend of mainstream financial players entering the crypto space.

Exchanges are supporting new financial instruments like tokenized equities and ETFs. For example, Kraken and Backed have partnered with TRON DAO to broaden access to tokenized equities, while the SEC’s “Project Crypto” aims to modernize securities regulations for crypto-based trading, potentially enabling tokenized asset markets.

Some exchanges are going public to gain legitimacy and attract capital. Bullish’s NYSE debut in August 2025, with a valuation of $13.16 billion, underscores this trend, with other firms like Gemini and Grayscale also filing for IPOs. This move aligns with a pro-crypto regulatory shift in the U.S., boosting investor confidence.

Mainstream financial integration accelerates, with banks like JPMorgan and Citigroup entering the space, potentially legitimizing crypto as an asset class and driving broader market growth (e.g., $19 trillion in 2024 trading volume).

Diversified services like DeFi wallets (e.g., Binance Wallet Extension), tokenized RWAs, and stablecoin payments expand access to financial tools, especially in underbanked regions like Africa. Crypto could democratize finance, but complexity and regulatory barriers may limit adoption among less tech-savvy users, creating a digital divide.

As exchanges innovate with new products (e.g., tokenized equities, ETFs) and go public, smaller or less adaptable platforms may struggle to compete, leading to mergers or exits. A few dominant exchanges could emerge, potentially reducing consumer choice but improving service quality and reliability. Innovation may slow if consolidation stifles competition.

The long-term impact depends on how exchanges balance user needs, compliance, and technological advancements. These changes reflect a broader maturation of the crypto industry, driven by institutional interest, regulatory clarity, and technological advancements.

However, challenges like security risks, regulatory uncertainty, and the need to balance retail and institutional demands persist. Exchanges that successfully innovate while maintaining robust compliance and security are likely to lead the next phase of the crypto market’s evolution.

Chinese researchers have built the world’s first “all-frequency” 6G chip, capable of mobile internet speeds above 100 gigabits per second, according to the South China Morning Post.

The team, led by scientists from Peking University and City University of Hong Kong, integrated the entire spectrum from 0.5 GHz to 115 GHz into a thumbnail-sized device—work that traditionally required nine separate radio systems.

The 11mm by 1.7mm chip consolidates millimetre-wave and terahertz communications with low-frequency microwave bands, enabling seamless switching between ranges suited to both remote coverage and ultra-high-speed use cases.

“There is an urgent need to tackle 6G development challenges,” said Professor Wang Xingjun of Peking University, citing surging device demand and the need to combine strengths across bands.

Higher frequencies bring huge bandwidth and very low latency for things like VR or robotic surgery; lower bands enable wide-area reach into mountains, subsea links, and even space.

At the core is photonic-electronic fusion. A broadband electro-optic modulator converts wireless signals to optical, which are processed through photonic components and transmitted via mixing between tunable lasers. All functional units sit on a single chip.

In testing, communication quality remained stable across the spectrum, the system tuned 6 GHz of frequency in 180 microseconds, and a single channel exceeded 100 Gbps. Guangming Daily reported the system can “rapidly, accurately and noiselessly” generate signals anywhere in the 0.5–115 GHz range. It also features “frequency-navigation” to hop instantly to a clear channel under interference.

The device supports multipurpose programmability and dynamic frequency adjustment, making it suitable for dense venues. The researchers say it establishes a hardware base for AI-native networks that adjust parameters on the fly and perform real-time environmental sensing. Next, they aim to build plug-and-play modules no larger than a USB stick for phones, base stations, drones, and IoT devices.

The geopolitical positioning in the 6G race

This breakthrough lands in the middle of a strategic contest over who sets the standards and supplies the base hardware for 6G. It underlines Beijing’s argument that China remains ahead in end-to-end “G-network” industrial capacity—from chip R&D and base-station radios to massive-scale deployments—while Washington, Seoul, and European capitals push their own roadmaps.

United States. The U.S. approach centers on a coalition model that marries big-tech platforms, cloud and semiconductor leaders, and telecom vendors to steer standards, spectrum policy, and interoperable architectures. Washington has prioritized open and virtualized RAN, export controls on advanced chips, and funding for domestic semiconductor capacity to keep U.S. firms central to AI-wireless convergence. American labs and companies lead in AI accelerators and cloud, which will be pivotal in 6G’s “AI-native” control plane.

The Chinese chip’s photonic-electronics fusion directly touches that frontier, raising the stakes for U.S. efforts to channel 6G toward open interfaces and domestic compute.

South Korea. Seoul has paired national strategy with industrial execution through Samsung and the big carriers, emphasizing early field trials, device-network co-design, and terahertz experimentation. Korea’s edge is speed from lab to street-level pilots and tight device-network integration. China’s all-frequency chip targets the same advantage by collapsing multi-band complexity into one module that can roam from low bands to terahertz without radio swaps.

Europe. The EU’s strengths lie in standards diplomacy and network equipment via Nokia and Ericsson. Brussels has leaned on coordinated spectrum policy, security vetting, and large research programs, aiming to codify energy efficiency, resilience, and interoperability into 6G blueprints.

A Chinese, photonics-driven “any-band” chip presses Europe to decide whether to double down on indigenous components or rely on third-country silicon while preserving vendor diversity in RAN.

Why Beijing can claim momentum in “G-network” leadership

China’s communications push is long-running. The country scaled 4G rapidly and then built the largest 5G footprint by sites and subscribers. Huawei, in particular, led the 5G rollout with broad portfolios in radios, core, transport, and devices, becoming the top global RAN supplier by share during much of the deployment window. That rise was checked when the United States moved to curb Huawei’s global reach through entity-list restrictions, export controls on advanced chips and design tools, and diplomacy urging allies to limit or exclude Huawei from 5G networks.

Several European countries tightened rules, and some operators ripped and replaced Huawei gear. The curbs dented Huawei’s global expansion, but inside China—and in parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America—the vendor continued to ship at scale and iterate its technology stack.

The new all-frequency 6G chip underscores that China’s research pipeline remains deep and coordinated across universities, labs, and industry. Analysts believe that integrating 0.5–115 GHz on a single photonic-electronic platform is a strong signal that Chinese teams are aiming to collapse hardware complexity and push multi-band, AI-steered networks into practical modules. If these parts reach mass production and plug cleanly into base stations and devices, Beijing will have a tangible lever in standards talks and early trials.

What this means for the race ahead

It is believed that if China can translate this lab-proven chip into robust field hardware, it gains negotiating power in spectrum and standards forums and a head start on modules that roam seamlessly across low, mid, mmWave, and terahertz. The U.S. will lean on AI compute leadership, cloud-RAN, and open interfaces to keep networks flexible and vendor-diverse. South Korea will sprint on early commercialization and device-network polish. Europe will work to anchor security, energy efficiency, and supply-chain resilience into the rulebook.

The chip’s AI-native design is the battleground: whoever marries radios, photonics, and edge/cloud AI orchestration most effectively will shape not only 6G performance but also the economics of deployment in rural areas—the very gap this device is built to narrow.