Antitrust

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a Second Amended Complaint in the state's PFAS litigation, alleging that DuPont-related companies executed fraudulent asset transfers designed to shield themselves from environmental liability. The complaint targets E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, DuPont de Nemours, Inc., Corteva, Inc., The Chemours Company, and newly created Qnity Electronics. Bonta contends that corporate restructuring and amended agreements shifted the bulk of PFAS-related liabilities onto Chemours while reducing exposure for New DuPont, Corteva, and Qnity Electronics. The filing invokes the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act and the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, and seeks relief in U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Elon Musk said on X that SpaceX would have to make Starlink's satellite internet affordable in India, arguing that if the service is too expensive, no one will buy it, and that competition would give Indian consumers more choices. He did not name a price. He addressed Mukesh Ambani as "Prime Minister Ambani," asked whether Ambani would consider letting Starlink compete, and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and Ambani of stalling Starlink's entry to favor Jio Platforms, Reliance Industries' telecom arm. The attacks mark a sharp break from Musk's long-running warm public rapport with Modi.

A wave of enforcement scrutiny and legal analysis is now focused on AI-driven employment systems that may embed discrimination in hiring, promotion, scheduling, and layoff decisions—particularly affecting pregnant workers and those on protected leave. The core problem is structural: workers see the outcome of these algorithmic decisions but not the reasoning behind them, making it difficult to detect unlawful bias or mount a legal challenge under existing antidiscrimination statutes.

The FTC, joined by Utah and California, sued telehealth company Hims & Hers Health, Inc. on July 29, 2026, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint alleges that Hims shared consumers' sensitive health information with third-party ad platforms including Meta and Snap despite privacy commitments, and that it charged customers for prescriptions immediately after intake forms were completed—before any provider consultation occurred. The agencies also claim Hims misled customers about billing, subscriptions, and cancellation procedures. The FTC alleges violations of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA), while Utah and California assert violations of state consumer protection and false-advertising statutes.

On July 13, 2026, a coalition of 12 state attorneys general filed a federal antitrust lawsuit challenging Paramount Skydance Corporation's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and joined by officials from Minnesota, Oregon, and nine other states, the plaintiffs argue the merger violates the Clayton Act by eliminating competition between two of Hollywood's five major film distributors and cable operators. The states contend the deal would raise movie ticket and cable prices, reduce employment in the entertainment sector, and diminish consumer choice in news and entertainment programming.

The Federal Trade Commission, joined by California and Utah, has sued telehealth company Hims & Hers Health, Inc. in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that the company shared sensitive health data with advertising platforms including Meta and Snap while marketing itself as private and discreet. The complaint also charges Hims with deceptive subscription practices, including charging customers immediately after intake forms were submitted—before any medical consultation occurred—and making cancellation unreasonably difficult. The FTC alleges violations of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, while California invokes its False Advertising and Unfair Competition Laws and Utah cites its Consumer Sales Practices Act.

The FTC, joined by Utah and California, filed a federal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Hims & Hers Health, Inc., alleging the telehealth company shared consumers' sensitive health information with third-party advertising platforms including Meta and Snap while publicly promising privacy protection. The complaint also charges that Hims & Hers misled users about billing and cancellation practices. According to the filing, the company disclosed health-related data and customer lists through tracking technologies embedded on its website, charged consumers for prescriptions immediately after intake forms were submitted—before any provider consultation occurred—and deliberately made subscriptions difficult to cancel. The FTC alleges violations of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA), while Utah invokes the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act and California cites its False Advertising and Unfair Competition laws.

CoStar is urging a California federal court to reject CREXi's request to pause their copyright dispute while CREXi appeals the disqualification of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Judge Consuelo B. Marshall of the Central District of California ruled on July 14, 2026, that Quinn Emanuel violated its duty of loyalty to CoStar by simultaneously representing CREXi in the same matter without CoStar's consent. CoStar argues the stay request lacks legal merit and should be denied outright.

CREXi has petitioned the Ninth Circuit to reverse a federal judge's disqualification of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and to stay district court proceedings while the appeal proceeds. U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall ruled that Quinn Emanuel could not represent CREXi because the firm simultaneously represented CoStar in a separate federal matter, creating an impermissible concurrent conflict of interest.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 13 state attorneys general filed a motion in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California asking the judge to enforce and clarify a hold-separate order in the Nexstar Media Group–TEGNA Inc. merger case. The filing alleges that recent board changes at TEGNA may allow Nexstar to exercise improper control over the company despite the court's injunction requiring both broadcasters to operate independently during litigation. The states argue that current or former Nexstar personnel should be barred from TEGNA's board to prevent the companies from coordinating merger-related activities.

On July 13, 2026, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport joined a 12-state coalition filing an antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to block Paramount Skydance Corporation's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The states argue the merger violates federal antitrust law by substantially lessening competition in film and television. The coalition—led by attorneys general from California, New York, and Pennsylvania—is demanding that Paramount and Warner Bros. pause the transaction and has threatened to seek a temporary restraining order if the companies attempt to close the deal.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 21 state counterparts filed a formal comment letter with the SEC opposing the agency's 2026 proposal to rescind its 2024 climate disclosure rules. The rules require public companies to disclose climate-related financial risks, greenhouse gas emissions, and risk management strategies to investors. The SEC adopted the disclosure framework in March 2024 to standardize reporting on material climate risks, board oversight, and mitigation efforts. The agency's rescission proposal, filed in 2026, argues the rules exceed its statutory authority and impose excessive compliance costs.

Apple sued OpenAI on July 10, 2026, in federal court in California, alleging the AI company systematically stole trade secrets to build competing consumer hardware and AI devices. The complaint names OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan and two former Apple employees, accusing them of a coordinated scheme to recruit Apple staff and direct job candidates to bring proprietary components, prototypes, and engineering documents to interviews. Apple seeks damages, injunctions, and an order prohibiting OpenAI from using the stolen information.

Paramount Skydance, controlled by David Ellison, is bypassing a preliminary-injunction hearing and moving directly to trial on the merits in its bid to preserve the $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The strategy represents a calculated gamble: avoiding an early legal loss but accepting significant delay and mounting costs to keep the deal alive through a full antitrust trial.

A coalition of 12 states filed suit in federal court on July 13, 2026, to block Paramount Skydance's $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the states—California, New York, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Oregon—argue the merger violates the Clayton Act by creating monopolies in film distribution and cable news. The lawsuit represents the first major legal obstacle to the deal since the Department of Justice cleared it on June 12 after an eight-month antitrust review.

The Writers Guild of America filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on July 14, 2026, to block the $111 billion merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. The union alleges the deal violates the Clayton Antitrust Act by creating a "single mega-buyer" that would suppress wages and reduce competition across episodic television, streaming series, and theatrical screenwriting markets. The filing came one day after twelve Democratic-led states, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, announced their own federal antitrust challenge to the same transaction.

Twelve states led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an antitrust lawsuit Monday to block Paramount Skydance Corp.'s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, challenging an $81–$111 billion transaction. The states argue the merger would eliminate competition, raise prices for TV bundles, reduce content output and quality, and harm movie theaters and basic cable distributors. The defendants are Paramount Skydance, backed by David Ellison and sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, and Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO, CNN, and other major media properties. Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington joined California in the suit.

Nike and Lululemon face separate class action lawsuits alleging "phantom discount" pricing schemes on their online platforms. Both companies are accused of displaying artificially inflated struck-through prices to exaggerate the depth of sales discounts and mislead consumers about actual savings. Nike was sued on July 21, 2026 by Corinne Pearson in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California over pricing on its website and mobile app. The complaint cites specific examples, including Air Max 2017 sneakers allegedly kept on discount beyond the 90-day window permitted under California's False Advertising Law without proper disclosure of when the original price was actually in effect. The proposed class covers California purchasers who bought Nike products at a discount since July 21, 2022. Lululemon faces a parallel suit filed by Annette Cody in Los Angeles Superior Court, which alleges the company listed products with fictitious regular prices. One example cited involves Wunder Train high-rise tights marked down from $98 to $59, allegedly without having sold at the higher price for months.