Association for Competitive Technology

Google I/O 2026 showcased incredible product innovations—from generative UI and mini apps to information agents. These updates offer small business developers expanded surface area to build, scale, and reach new consumers.

But for tech policy observers, a massive shadow looms over these advancements: the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA). Under the DMA's strict "self-preferencing" prohibitions (Article 6(5)), providing advanced features on top of core platform services could open up developers to heavy regulatory barriers and spark prolonged investigations.

This serves as a stark warning for U.S. policymakers, especially following the reintroduction of similar legislation like AICOA. If you want consumers and developers to benefit from cutting-edge innovation, European-style mandates will only defeat that purpose.

Read our Google I/O recap:

Developers Celebrate in the Sun at Google I/O as DMA Storm Clouds Gather   A few weeks ago, I traveled to Mountain View for my first ever in-person Google I/O experience. The presentations included live demonstrations and concrete examples illustrating how updates across a wide range of Google services will meaningfully benefit small businesses and consumers. The event ...

What happens in California rarely stays in California—especially when it comes to technology policy.

The state’s proposed COMPETE Act (AB 1776) claims to protect competition and support small businesses. In practice, it does the exact opposite. By replacing predictable competition rules with a vague, untested state-specific liability framework, AB 1776 strips away critical safeguards like market-power thresholds and familiar limiting principles.

Startups compete by moving fast and leveraging the bundled services that platforms provide to reduce costs and help them scale. This bill casts a dark legal cloud over those ordinary growth strategies.

Our latest blog breaks down why the COMPETE Act represents a dangerous shift toward antitrust overreach that will ultimately hurt small business innovators: https://actonline.org/2026/06/05/californias-compete-act-is-the-latest-sign-of-a-broader-antitrust-push-against-the-tech-ecosystem/
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California’s COMPETE Act Is the Latest Sign of a Broader Antitrust Push Against the Tech Ecosystem   California’s technology policy choices rarely stay in California. That is especially true when lawmakers target the platforms, tools, and increasingly the AI-enabled services that many startups and small businesses rely on every day. That is why AB 1776, the COMPETE Act, has taken on such impor...

🥽 When it comes to patent trolls, it’s often the smallest teams that take the biggest hits.

“There’s a cost… if you use the money to go to court you’re not hiring an employee, you’re not developing a product, or you’re not advertising your product.” -BadVR co-founder, Suzanne Borders

SEPs were a major focus at GAEC US last month, and the conversation doesn’t stop there. Whether in the US, UK, EU, or other countries, we continue to fight for FRAND-ly SEP policies around the world.

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The American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) threatens to grind America's thriving tech ecosystem and economy to a halt. By mimicking the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), this bill will disproportionately burden U.S. tech leaders and threaten the livelihoods of small developers who rely on integrated platform tools to compete. Our research shows that importing European-style regulations will have devastating consequences for the app economy:

Product Launch Delays: Nearly 60% of EU and UK developers have already reported launch delays directly tied to over-regulation.

Stifled AI Innovation: Small tech firms lose an estimated $109,000 to $375,000 annually per firm due to regulatory delays in AI model access and stalled features.

Increased Costs & Barriers: Small developers depend on integrated services for security, fraud prevention, and global distribution.

AICOA will raise costs and increase legal uncertainty for the very startups it claims to help. We sent a coalition letter to Congress urging a complete rejection of European-style regulation:

Coalition Urges Congress to Reject AICOA   WASHINGTON, DC – In a joint letter led by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), a coalition of more than 30 organizations and individuals is urging Congress to reject the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA...