In today’s Digest, we discuss Google’s decision to restrict publishers' control over how their content is used in its AI search, a US District judge pressing Apple to approve Fortnite’s return to the App Store, as well as Microsoft’s xAI partnership and on-device APIs for web developers.

Google Gave Publishers Little Choice in AI Search Data Use

Google opted against giving publishers a clear choice over the use of their content to train its AI-powered search features, internal documents have uncovered. Revealed during the tech giant’s ongoing US search antitrust trial, the disclosures show that Alphabet executives acknowledged alternatives such as requesting publisher permission or offering opt outs but chose not to pursue them due to complexity. Google enforced what it called a “hard red line”, any publisher wanting to appear in traditional search results would also have their content used to train AI features. The internal memo, by Google Search product management executive Chetna Bindra, noted the company would “silently update” its practices without public disclosure. 

Paul Bannister, chief strategy officer at Raptive, which represents digital creators, said the internal Google document revealed during the antitrust trial underscores a deliberate decision to withhold control from publishers. “It’s a little bit damning,” he remarked. “It pretty clearly shows that they knew there was a range of options and they pretty much chose the most conservative, most protective of them, the option that didn’t give publishers any controls at all.”

Judge Presses Apple to Approve Fortnite 

US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has pressed Apple to approve Fortnite for re-entry to the US App Store or return to court to justify its refusal. The move comes in response to a new motion filed by Epic Games, asserting that Apple is defying a court order by not allowing the distribution of Fortnite on the App Store.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers stated that Apple must present the “legal authority upon which Apple contends that it can ignore this Court’s order.” She added that the company is “fully capable of resolving this issue without further briefing or a hearing,” but made clear that failure to act would prompt renewed judicial scrutiny. The judge also requested that Apple identify the individual responsible for ensuring compliance with the court’s ruling.

Microsoft Expands Arsenal with xAI and On-Device APIs for Web Developers

At its annual Build developer conference, Microsoft unveiled a suite of AI advancements, underscoring its continued investment in broadening both the scale and accessibility of its AI tools. Microsoft is now officially hosting xAI’s Grok 3 and Grok 3 Mini models via Azure, and is opening its on-device AI capabilities in Edge to web developers through new experimental APIs. The partnership with xAI marks a notable expansion of Azure AI Foundry’s model offering, which now includes Grok’s latest iterations. 

Microsoft is also pushing to bring AI to Edge. The company announced new cross-platform APIs for its Edge browser, enabling web developers to access Microsoft’s, on-device model, Phi-4-mini. Rolled out in February, Phi-4-mini is a 3.8 billion parameter model designed for lightweight generative tasks such as summarisation, text editing, and translation. Microsoft says additional APIs for text translation will follow in the coming months.