The top lawyer representing the U.S. DOJ in its antitrust case against Google has accused the tech giant of stifling AI innovation through monopolizing the search market via exclusivity deals. Google is alleged to have violated federal antitrust laws by having deals with clients like Apple to preload its search engine on devices and browsers. The DOJ is expected to give its verdict this summer. Kenneth Dintzer argued that the exclusivity deals should have been terminated the moment Google gained its monopoly, as Google pays billions to Apple every year to give it a competitive edge as the default search engine on the Safari web browser. In court, Dintzer questioned if AI innovation would have been stifled if Google had not maintained its monopoly. The report also mentions the AI chatbot ChatGPT, which has been at the forefront of conversations about AI development, although it has not been without controversy.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday that it has seized cryptocurrency worth more than $112 million “linked to cryptocurrency investment scams.” Noting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Phoenix Division is investigating this case, the announcement details:

The cryptocurrency exchange – Bitzlato – enabled customers to withdraw up to 50% of their bitcoin funds stuck on the venue. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) closed the firm in January for allegedly processing more than $700 million worth of illegal funds and arrested its founder – Anatoly Legkodymov. The company revealed that users could withdraw a maximum of 50% of their assets previously frozen by the authorities. Those willing to do so should use the Telegram bot – bz_phoenix_bot – to move funds to another exchange or an external wallet. (cryptopotato)

Miles Guo, an exiled businessman, was arrested this morning in New York over a $1 billion fraud conspiracy involving cryptocurrency. 

According to a Wall Street Journal coverage<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-probes-collapse-of-do-kwons-terrausd-stablecoin-10bd5ffb" target="_blank"></a>, the FBI and the Southern District of New York have started questioning former members of Terraform Labs to investigate the reasons that triggered the LUNA/UST crash in May last year.&nbsp;

Now, two other agencies — the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) — are probing the failed depository institution.

According to a court document filed on March 3, the US Department of Justice has suggested revised bail guidelines for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).

The founders behind the alleged $340 million “global Ponzi” scheme Forsage have been indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Oregon. The four Russian founders — Vladimir Okhotnikov, Olena Oblamska, Mikhail Sergeev, and Sergey Maslakov — have been formally accused of having key roles in the scheme which raised approximately $340 million from victim-investors, according to a Feb. 22 Department of Justice (DOJ) statement. “Today’s indictment is the result of a rigorous investigation that spent months piecing together the systematic theft of hundreds of millions of dollars,” said U.S. Attorney Natalie Wight for the District of Oregon. (Cointelegraph)

Lawyers representing bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital have served former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX and Alameda Research executives with subpoenas requesting information. The subpoenas have a very wide scope, with Voyager’s lawyers seeking copies of any documents and communication between FTX entities and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Department of Justice (DOJ) according to the Feb. 6 filing. Amongst a plethora of other requested documents, the lawyers also want to see information relating to the loan portfolio between Alameda and Voyager as well as FTX’s financial condition before and after it filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, 2022. (Cointelegraph)

Bankruptcy judge John Dorsey declined to rule definitely on whether to appoint an independent examiner into the FTX bankruptcy case, with the U.S. government arguing that statute forced him to demand such, and FTX saying that a probe would represent a costly duplication.