Amazon’s original rivals

Hey everyone, it’s Spencer in Seattle. Amazon’s first rivals, booksellers across America, want to have their complaints heard in the Federal [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hey everyone, it’s Spencer in Seattle. Amazon’s first rivals, booksellers across America, want to have their complaints heard in the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against the e-commerce giant. But first... Three things you need to know today: • Samsung’s new chips chief rallied employees after the [surprise departure of his predecessor]( • Apple will overhaul its Siri digital assistant [with a boost of AI features]( • Meta has changed Facebook’s feeds to [better compete with TikTok]( Opposite sides A dispute between the FTC and the [American Booksellers Association]( highlights the complexities of the government’s [landmark antitrust case]( against online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. that’s scheduled to go to trial in 2026. The group wants to intervene in the case and [force Amazon to stop selling books]( as a retailer. The FTC, meanwhile, says the booksellers should go file their own lawsuit since their issue doesn’t neatly overlap with the government’s case. At first glance, the two sides appear to contradict each other — a discrepancy than Amazon can spin to make them look chaotic and clueless. The FTC’s [179-page lawsuit]( against the e-commerce giant barely mentions books at all. In one section, the government says Amazon boosted profits on book sales by $57 million in 2018 by using an algorithm to raise prices when it expected competitors would follow them with their own hikes. The FTC’s argument, in this instance, is that Amazon’s monopoly power in online shopping lets it control prices, enabling the company to raise the prices for its own benefit to the detriment of consumers. The agency said Amazon engaged in the same practices in other product categories beyond books, padding its profits by more than $1 billion over a three-year period ending in 2018. The booksellers, meanwhile, argue Amazon used its market clout to negotiate low wholesale book prices from publishers and sell them at discounts that smaller bookstores couldn’t match. Their argument is that Amazon drove consumer prices down to unsustainable levels to put smaller businesses under. As contradictory as it seems, both arguments could be true. Amazon chose books as its first product category in 1994 because they’re easy to ship and generally aren’t needed urgently. The company gradually expanded into other categories for its shopping platform, like CDs and DVDs, electronics and toys. Today, Amazon can offer you a gallon of milk, a refrigerator to put it in, and a backyard shed to house the refrigerator. The company has used different strategies to enter various product areas and train shoppers to buy things online that they would usually get at a store. And Amazon can dial prices up and down depending on what kind of competition it faces in the moment. The book industry is Amazon’s oldest rival, so it makes sense that the booksellers have some gripes that sound distinct from the FTC’s overall case. Amazon says the booksellers’ group recycles [old legal arguments](that the organization has already lost. For now, the fate of the FTC’s litigation hinges largely on the results of the presidential election and whether a new administration reshapes the agency or whether President Joe Biden’s reelection gives Chair Lina Khan time to finish her case. In the meantime, Amazon and the FTC have found some common ground. Neither wants the booksellers involved.—[Spencer Soper](mailto:ssoper@bloomberg.net) The big story The US has stepped up its efforts to keep cutting-edge technology from China, by slowing large sales of powerful AI chips from US companies to customers in the Middle East. The US government is concerned that the chips may be [passed through to China despite a US ban on the sales.Â]( One to watch [Watch Abel Avellan, chief executive officer of AST SpaceMobile, interviewed on Bloomberg Television about space technology and his company’s partnerships with wireless carriers.]( Get fully charged Dell’s strong results weren’t enough for investors seeking greater sales gains from its [powerful AI servers](. British fintech Revolut sees Asia as a [big market for expansion](. The US Justice Department is closely monitoring deals AI companies have cut with media firms and content providers to make sure they are legal, [a top antitrust official says](. 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