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Last August, a federal judge issued a historic ruling against search giant Google: The company engaged in monopolistic behavior when it offered payment to be the default search engine on tech platforms owned by other companies. Months later, the historic antitrust verdict led the Department of Justice (DOJ) to seek numerous possible remedies against Google, including limiting the companys ability to enter into paid search deal agreements and selling off its Chrome browser. But yesterday, the federal judge overseeing the case issued his remedies, which manyincluding those on Wall Streetsee as a win for Google, as the company has been allowed to escape the harshest consequences. As a result, shares in Google and Apple are up in premarket trading on Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know: Whats happened? Yesterday, the U.S. district judge presiding over the DOJ’s long-running antitrust case against Google issued remedies that the company would be liable for. And many industry watchers and legal experts say Google got off much better than it could have. After the same judge, Amit Mehta, ruled last August that Google engaged in monopolistic behavior in several aspects of its search business, the U.S. Department of Justice proposed several possible remedies, including: Selling off its Chrome web browser Selling off its Android operating system Barring Google from entering into preferred search agreements with third parties If Google were forced to sell off Chrome and Android, it would lose control over the software that billions of people across the globe use to interact with the internet, the companys services, and its search tools. This impact would also greatly harm Google’s search business, and any new owner of Android and Chrome likely wouldnt keep Google as the default search engine of the software. Barring Google from entering preferred search agreements would have also greatly affected the companys advertising revenues, as that DOJ provision would have forbidden Google from paying third parties, such as Apple, to make Google the default search engine on other companies devices. That remedial provision would have also significantly hurt the revenues of Samsung and Apple, with which Google has preferred search deals. The company reportedly pays Apple a staggering $20 billion a year to be the default search engine on the iPhone. DOJ ‘overreached’ Yet none of these DOJ-proposed remedies will be levied against Google, Mehta revealed yesterday. Google will not be required to divest Chrome; nor will the court include a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system in the final judgment, the decision stated, as noted by CNBC. It went on to say that the DOJ overreached in seeking forced divestiture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints. At the same time, Google didnt get off scot-free. Judge Mehta said that while the company can continue to make payments to preload its products on third-party devices and services, it is not allowed to enter into exclusive contracts that bar those third parties from offering other search options. This means Google can continue to pay Apple billions to have its search featured on the iPhone. Announcing this decision, the filing stated (via CNN), Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantialin some cases, cripplingdownstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which counsels against a broad payment ban. The judgment also requires Google to share search data with rivals. How have Google, Apple, and the DOJ reacted? Despite walking away relatively unscathed, Google has taken issue with the remedies that the judge did levy against it in a statement published to its blog. Now the Court has imposed limits on how we distribute Google services, and will require us to share Search data with rivals, the statement read. We have concerns about how these requirements will impact our users and their privacy, and were reviewing the decision closely. The Court did recognize that divesting Chrome and Android would have gone beyond the cases focus on search distribution, and would have harmed consumers and our partners. The Department of Justice framed the ruling as a win, despite the agency not seeing its major proposed remedies adopted by the court. In the statement on the ruling, the DOJ said that the courts ruling recognizes the need for remedies that will pry open the market for general search services, which has been frozen in place for over a decade. The agency also said that the ruling recognizes the need to prevent Google from using the same anticompetitive tactics for its [generative artificial intelligence] products as it used to monopolize the search market, and the remedies will reach GenAI technologies and companies. Apple has not issued a public response to the ruling, though in late 2024, the company filed a motion to support Google in the antitrust casea request Mehta ultimately denied. Fast Company reached out to Apple for comment. How has Google stock reacted? Its not hard to guess how the stock price for Googles parent company, Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG), reacted after the company avoided the harshest proposed consequences of the antitrust verdict. GOOG shares are currently trading up above 5.6% in premarket trading as of this writing. Currently, GOOGs stock price is $224 per sharea high for the year. Before Alphabets share price jump after the ruling, GOOG shares were already up more than 11% for the year as of yesterdays close. Over the past 12 months, GOOG shares have risen more than 28% as of yesterdays close. How has Apple stock reacted? While Alphabet shares are seeing the most benefit from yesterdays ruling this morning, Apple stock (Nasdaq: AAPL) is also benefiting. As of the time of this writing, in premarket trading, AAPL shares are currently up over 4% to $239. Thats the highest price they have seen since March, before they got pummeled by Trumps tariff orders. Before this mornings 4% jump, AAPL shares were down more than 8% for the year so far, as of market close yesterday. Over the past 12 months, AAPL shares were up a paltry 0.3% as of yesterdays close.
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One of the most powerful buttons on your phone is also one of the easiest to ignore. Im referring to the humble “Share” button, a mainstay of both iOS and Android that unlocks all kinds of useful features. Beyond just sharing links and photos with other people, the Share button serves as a hub for all kinds of helpful shortcuts. Even so, the Share button often feels undervalued, with some apps even hiding it out of sight. I know this because when I first wrote this column for my Advisorator newsletter subscribers, I got a bunch of emails from folks who never realized how useful the Share button can be. Lets take a few minutes, then, to appreciate everything it can do and optimize it for maximum efficiency. Share button basics Spot the Share buttons in Plexamp, Ivory, and Amazon [Screenshot: Jared Newman] No matter which app youre using, think of the Share button as a way to send data elsewhere. Just tap the button, and youll get a menu of other apps (or even people) to share with. Finding the Share button isnt always so simple, though. In some apps, the button appears as a box with an arrow pointing outwards, while in others it may resemble a set of dots with interconnected lines. You might also just see the word Share instead. Certain apps even hide the full Share menu out of sight. In Instagram, for instance, you must hit the paper airplane icon at the bottom of a post, then hit the “Share via” button. Bluesky does something similar, making you hit a secondary “Share via” button after tapping the Share icon in a post. Just know that if an app has shareable infowhether its a link, a photo, or a filetheres likely a Share button hiding somewhere. Know what to share Share menus on Android (left) and iPhone (right) [Screenshot: Jared Newman] The Share buttons most basic use is sending photos or links to friends. From your photo gallery, for instance, hitting the Share button underneath an image lets you share it through other apps such as Messages or Facebook. But beyond that, the Share button serves as a hub for all kinds of time-saving shortcuts. Some of my favorite examples: Saving links from a web browser to a bookmarking app such as Raindrop, or to a read-it-later app such as Instapaper Using the Contacts app on iOS or Android to pass along someones contact info in a text message Sending an emailed PDF file to Notability for annotation Copying shareable playlist links from music apps such as Spotify Sending a file directly from email to a cloud storage service such as Dropbox or OneDrive Using the iOS Files app or Googles Android Files app to send multiple files as email attachments The possibilities are only limited by the apps youve installed on your phone, so try experimenting with the Share button in different apps to see what you can do. Android users: Note that the full list of options may not appear when you first hit the Share button. Depending on your device, you may have to scroll through the list and hit More to see all of your apps. Pin your favorites Pinning favorite apps on Samsung, Google Pixel, and iPhone [Screenshot: Jared Newman] Once youve found some favorite apps to use with the Share menu, you can pin them to the beginning of the menu for faster access. On iOS: Scroll to the end of the horizontal icon list, hit the More button, then hit Edit. Hit the + button next to any app to add it to your favorites, then use the button to reorder them. On Android: If necessary, hit the More button until you see a full list of icons. Depending on the phone, you can either long-press an icon to pin it, or (on Samsung phones, for instance) hit the pencil icon and drag your favorites to the top. Hide suggested contacts (iPhone only) By default, the iOS share sheet includes a row of people to share with at the very top. If youre bothered by these suggestionsas I amyou can hide specific contacts or remove this section altogether. Hide a contact: Long-press their pofile picture, then hit Suggest Less. Hide all contacts: Head to Settings > Siri & Search (or Apple Intelligence & Siri), then look under Suggestions from Apple, and disable Show when Sharing. Discover extra actions Extra actions in the Share menuincluding a print function. [Screenshot: Jared Newman] The Share menu isnt just a way to send data to other apps. It can also provide useful actions within the app youre already using. For example: In Safari for iOS, the Share button is where youll find important browser features such as Find in Page and Add Bookmark. Both iOS and Android let you print documents from the Share menu. Just look for the Print button when sharing from your web browser or apps like Google Docs. Hitting Share in Chrome for Android lets you take a full-page screenshot. Hitting Share in iOS Photos brings up options to turn an image into a wallpaper or Apple Watch face, or assign it to a contact. On iOS, you can expand the Share menu even further with Shortcuts. For instance, installing CmlCmlCml adds an option to the Share menu on Amazons app to check an items price history, while this Shortcut takes the current web page and reads it aloud. Explore the Gallery section of the Shortcuts app for more ideas. Note that on iOS, these additional actions can be reordered as well. Just scroll to the bottom of the list and hit Edit Actions, and you can pin your favorites to the top. Faced with so many options, its tempting to just tune out the Share button entirely. But if you take some time to explore its intricacies, you might wonder how you ever got by without it. This story first appeared in Jared’s Advisorator newsletter. Sign up to get more advice every Tuesday.
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This fantasy football season, Aaron VanSledright is letting his bot call the shots. Ahead of the NFL season, the Chicago-based cloud engineer built a custom AI draft agent that pulls real-time data from ESPN and FantasyPros, factoring in last-minute intel like injuries and roster cuts. Using his background in coding and cloud computing, VanSledright spun up the agent in just a week with Anthropics Claude large language models. He also tapped Amazon Web Services tools, including the new Strands SDK, which helps developers launch agents with just a few lines of code. “Let’s see how well the AI performs against other humans, because nobody else in my league is doing this,” he tells Fast Company. In this Premium story, subscribers will learn: How players are using AI to improve player selection and create balanced rosters The off-the-shelf AI products that anyone can play with Why even early adopters are leaving room for human decisions VanSledright customized the bot for the quirks of his two-quarterback league (where each team must start two QBs) by designing a weighting system that values positions differently depending on how the draft unfolds: Stockpile skill players first, grab quarterbacks next, and then fill out the rest. The bot will stay active all season, offering weekly lineup projections. He hopes it will ease the pressureand the visceral angstof making his own picks. Admittedly terrible at fantasy football, VanSledright wanted to see what would happen if he stripped the human emotion out of this season. Could AI outperform his own mind, gut, and memory? “[League-mates] are going to show up with their emotion-based picks, maybe some facts based on projections and everything,” VanSledright says. “But it’s kind of all who you feel week to week.” Hes not alone. As generative AI becomes more accessible, fantasy players are experimenting with DIY tools to optimize their teamsfrom chatbots that suggest sleepers to scouts that analyze rivals drafting habits. Whether these experiments produce game-winning Hail Marys or just new scapegoats when the season goes south, one thing is clear: Fantasy football players are increasingly willing to let machines take on decisions long dominated by human bias. “Like a scout sitting next to you” Chatter about AI in fantasy football is picking up. Mentions of the topic across X, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and Reddit jumped 728% year over year, according to the software firm Sprinklr. (Still, with only 14,000 posts in 2025, the conversation remains relatively niche.) Ryan Laughlin, a longtime fantasy football fan, is taking a different approach: using AI to track and predict his competition. Combining his own machine learning model with historical data from Yahoos API and OpenAIs LLMs, Laughlinwho works in commerce payments at JPMorgan Chase while pursuing a computer science masters degree part-timeset out to analyze how his league-mates have drafted in past seasons. The result is a draft scout that generates AI summaries of league players tendencies, showing who delays drafting quarterbacks and who prioritizes running backs. As Laughlin explains it: People often forget each managers style year to year. His tool is designed to feel like a scout sitting next to you, trying to help you win your fantasy week. To test the concept, Laughlin spent a few hundred dollars on Reddit ads targeting fantasy football subreddits, inviting others to try it and share feedback. “I’ve gotten actually pretty strong feedback from people who say it resonates with them,” Laughlin says. “Like they read their own profile and say it’s actually kind of true and kind of weirdly accurate. They don’t have objections to it, but people aren’t incentivized to share it because if you share with your league, you’re giving away the competitive advantage.” AI in fantasy football isnt entirely new. Back in 2015, IBM Watson rolled out tools that crunched data from Twitter activity, coaching stats, football articles, and more. Today, IBM is in its ninth year of a partnership with ESPN. Its Watsonx platform now powers features like an “AI Weekly Preview” and data-driven categories suggesting which players to add, drop, or trade. But now those tools are reaching scale. Roughly 13 million fantasy players use IBM features (up from 12 million last year), according to Kameryn Stanhouse, IBMs vice president of sports and entertainment partnerships. Behind the recommendations: 36 billion data points, from player stats and team performance to news coverage, media sentiment, and injury reports. There are the typical stats that you’re getting that everyone has access to, Stanhouse says. But also the ability to use that unstructured data and be able to scan the web and understand what reporters are saying. If players are getting a lot of positive media sentiment there, we’re attributing value to those as opposed to others.” “People treat AI as an Oracle” Startups are also pushing into fantasy sports from other industries. Sourcetable, originally built for stock traders and hedge funds, now offers its AI-driven spreadsheet platform with features tailored to fantasy football. By pulling data from ESPN, Sleeper, and Yahoo, the tool enables deeper modeling and real-time insights. Founder and CEO Eoin McMillan sees potential to expand into other sports, though he acknowledges some trade-offs. Maybe Im just nostalgic, but I do think we lose some excitement from the game as we move increasingly toward stats management, McMillan says. On the other hand, Brady and Belichick were clearly early at being disciplined on this game-manager-mode trend, and the results showed. Others are building tools to rethink how lineups come together in real time. Phoenix-based data scientist Ben Jensen, for example, created a draft optimizer to help assemble a balanced roster during live draftssomething traditional player projections rarely address. His tool accounts for roster constraints, models hypothetical picks from rival managers, and reflects his personal preferences with tags ranging from strongly like to strongly dislike. It also simulates whether to take or wait on certain players. Jensen notes that he used AI mainly for coding, not for decision-makin. That distinction, he says, prevents blind trust in a system with its own risks. Too often people treat AI as an oracle instead, and then get frustrated when it isnt a magic bullet, he says. To whatever extent I inform my strategies with AI, I still am accountable for the outcome.
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