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Google’s $32 Billion Acquisition of Wiz Faces U.S. Antitrust Review, Bloomberg Reports

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The U.S. Justice Department is reviewing Google’s planned $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Wiz to determine if the deal could unlawfully reduce competition in the marketplace, according to Bloomberg News citing sources familiar with the matter.

This acquisition would be Alphabet’s largest to date and aims to integrate Wiz into Google’s cloud division, bolstering its cybersecurity offerings for enterprise customers to manage critical risks.

Both Google and the DOJ declined to comment, and Wiz did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request. The deal reportedly gained momentum after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, amid expectations of a more favorable antitrust environment.

Executives at Wiz reportedly remained cautious following the collapse of Adobe’s $20 billion attempt to buy Figma due to antitrust challenges in late 2023. Google has agreed to pay Wiz over $3.2 billion if the deal fails to close.

Trump’s appointments of Andrew Ferguson as FTC chair and Gail Slater to oversee DOJ antitrust reviews reportedly increased confidence in a smoother regulatory process.

This scrutiny arrives as Google also faces ongoing DOJ lawsuits alleging monopoly abuses in online search and advertising technology markets. In April, a U.S. judge ruled Google liable for “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in publisher ad servers and ad exchange markets.

Google Resolves Global Service Outage Affecting Multiple Platforms

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Alphabet’s Google announced on Thursday that it had resolved a brief global outage that disrupted several of its core services, including Google Chat, Google Meet, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Cloud Search, Google Tasks, and Google Voice.

The disruption also impacted third-party platforms reliant on Google Cloud infrastructure, such as music streaming service Spotify and messaging app Discord, as well as Snapchat. The outage began around 1:50 p.m. ET and caused widespread service interruptions across multiple regions.

At the peak of the outage, tracking website Downdetector.com recorded approximately 46,000 outage reports for Spotify and nearly 11,000 reports for Discord in the U.S. alone. Google Cloud’s engineering teams worked swiftly to mitigate the issue, and by 6:18 p.m. ET, outage reports had significantly decreased to just over 1,000 for Spotify and around 200 for Discord.

Google stated it will publish a detailed analysis after completing an internal investigation into the incident.

Adobe Raises Annual Forecasts on Strong Demand for AI-Powered Creative Tools

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Adobe has raised its full-year revenue and profit forecasts, driven by steady demand for its AI-powered software tools that assist in generating images and video content. The company, known for flagship products like Photoshop and Premiere Pro, continues to innovate in the creative software market.

Despite a sluggish first quarter affected by budget constraints and project delays amid broader economic uncertainties, analysts at Jefferies noted signs of recovery in the second quarter as clients resumed delayed projects. This momentum supports Adobe’s confidence in reaching its growth targets.

For fiscal 2025, Adobe now expects revenue between $23.50 billion and $23.60 billion, up from a previous forecast of $23.30 billion to $23.55 billion. Adjusted earnings per share are projected between $20.50 and $20.70, an increase from the earlier range of $20.20 to $20.50.

Finance Chief Dan Durn highlighted ongoing investments in AI innovation to enhance customer value and expand Adobe’s user base.

Adobe’s AI-driven tools, notably the Firefly app launched in 2023, enable users to create and edit visual content from simple text prompts. Firefly uses ethically sourced training data to ensure brand safety and copyright compliance.

The company is also integrating AI image-generation models from OpenAI and Google into Firefly, further enhancing its creative capabilities.

Adobe reported second-quarter revenue of $5.87 billion, surpassing analyst expectations of $5.79 billion, and also provided a third-quarter outlook that exceeded estimates.