WASHINGTON: In the biggest antitrust court battle in decades, the US government will seek to block the merger of AT&T and Time Warner to prevent the creation of a powerful new television behemoth.
With opening arguments set for Wednesday, AT&T will be pointing to the new landscape in which media is increasingly dominated by Big Tech giants like Netflix, Amazon and others.
The Justice Department filed suit in November to block the planned $85 billion tie-up of AT&T, one of the dominant telecom and Internet firms, with media-entertainment powerhouse Time Warner.
The deal had been under review since late 2016, and the move by the Trump administration represents a test for antitrust enforcers in the digital age.
The case has also been clouded by politics, notably the feud between President Donald Trump and Time Warner unit CNN — which the White House regularly attacks as “fake news.”
Unconfirmed reports have suggested the government sought the sale of CNN as a condition for approval of the merger.
The Justice Department argues in its trial brief that the tie-up would be bad for competition and raise prices.
If the deal goes through, government lawyers said in the brief, “American consumers will end up paying hundreds of millions of dollars more than they do now to watch their favorite programs on TV.”
The brief argues that AT&T could withhold or demand higher prices for prime television content like Time Warner unit HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” or sports from Turner Broadcasting.
The Justice Department will use a study from Professor Carl Shapiro of the University of California at Berkeley showing consumers could pay $436 million more per year if the merger is consummated.
AT&T meanwhile argues competition concerns are overblown because the two companies operate in different segments: One is a distributor, the other a creator of content.
The deal, according to AT&T, will help competition amid “a revolutionary transformation that is occurring in the video programming marketplace.”
The AT&T brief maintains the television landscape is being dramatically changed by “the spectacular rise of Netflix, Amazon, Google, and other vertically integrated, direct-to-consumer technology companies.”
It said a combined AT&T and Time Warner would create a stronger competitor for Netflix, Google, Amazon, and Facebook.
Time Warner, according to the AT&T argument, cannot effectively compete without a digital partner against tech giants, which can gather data for personalized ads and content.
Complicating the case is the 2011 approval of a similar tie-up between Comcast and NBCUniversal, with some conditions.
AT&T argues the same precedent applies to its “vertical” merger and evidence will show the Comcast/NBCU merger “resulted in no harm to competition whatsoever.”
Legal experts are divided on the odds of the case — while noting that blocking the deal would go against a decades-long precedent of allowing these kinds of vertical tie-ups.
Steven Salop, a Georgetown University law professor and former Federal Trade Commission official, said the government has an “excellent chance” of showing the merger could stifle competition.
The tie-up “could give Time Warner the power to demand higher prices from competing video distributors,” Salop said in a blog post.
“Time Warner could also raise prices on its video content for AT&T’s broadband or wireless competitors, or withhold content altogether. Facing weaker or higher-cost competitors, AT&T might raise its prices to subscribers.”
Most antitrust investigations are settled with an agreement calling for divestitures or other actions to preserve competition, so the court showdown represents a risk for both sides, analysts said.
It will be the most high-profile antitrust case to hit the courtroom since the 1990s Microsoft litigation.
While some analysts have claimed the case is politically motivated, Judge Richard Leon denied to hear evidence showing AT&T was singled out for prosecution.
“The case is going to trial without that political overlay,” said Daniel Lyons, a Boston College Law School professor and visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Lyons said the case could suggest a new approach to antitrust by the Justice Department’s new division chief, Makan Delrahim.
“This is a rethinking of vertical mergers,” Lyons said.
Still, Lyons said the government has an uphill battle to reverse decades of judicial precedent of a largely laissez-faire approach to mergers.
In blockbuster antitrust trial, Big Tech looms in background
In blockbuster antitrust trial, Big Tech looms in background
Saudi Arabia sets global benchmark in AI modernization
- Executives hail the Kingdom’s robust infrastructure and strategic workforce programs
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is emerging as a global leader in artificial intelligence, according to executives from OpenText, one of the world’s largest enterprise information management companies.
With 22 years of international AI experience, Harald Adams, OpenText’s senior vice president of sales for international markets, said the Kingdom’s modernization efforts are now setting a global standard.
“From my perspective, Saudi Arabia is not only leading the modernization towards artificial intelligence in the Middle East, I think it is even not leading it only in the MENA region. I think it is leading it globally,” Adams told Arab News.
In an interview, Adams and George Schembri, vice president and general manager for the Middle East at OpenText, discussed the Kingdom’s significant investments in AI during the inauguration of OpenText’s new regional headquarters in Riyadh.
“So for us (OpenText), from our perspective, it was a strategic decision to move our MENA headquarters to Saudi Arabia because we believe that we will see here a lot of innovation coming out of the country, we can replicate not only to the MENA region, maybe even further to the global level,” Adams said.
The new headquarters, located in the King Abdullah Financial District, will serve as a central hub for OpenText customers and partners across the Middle East. Its opening reflects a broader trend of tech giants relocating to Riyadh, signaling the Kingdom’s rise as a hub for global AI innovation.
Adams attributed Saudi Arabia’s lead in AI modernization to a combination of substantial financial backing, a unified national strategy, and a remarkable pace of execution.
“I mean, a couple of things, because the ingredients in Saudi Arabia are of course, quite interesting. On the one hand side, Saudi Arabia has deep pockets and great ambitions. And they are, I mean, and they are executing fast, yeah,” he said.
“So from that perspective, at the moment, what we see is that there are, especially on the government side, I can’t see any other government organizations globally moving faster into that direction than it is happening in Saudi Arabia. Not in the region, not even on a global level, they are leading the game,” he underlined.
Schembri added, “Saudi’s AI vision is one of the most ambitious in the world, and AI on a national scale is not good without trusted, secured, and governed, and this is where OpenText helps to enable the Saudi organizations to be able to deliver on the 2030 Vision.”
“The Kingdom’s focus on AI and digital transformation creates a powerful opportunity for organizations to unlock value from their information,” Schembri stated.
“With OpenText on the ground in Riyadh, our customers gain direct access to trusted global expertise combined with local insight — enabling them to manage information securely, scale AI with confidence, and compete on a global stage,” he added.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Saudi Arabia ranks 5th globally and 1st in the region for AI growth under the 2025 Global AI Index.
• The Kingdom is also 3rd globally in advanced AI model development, trailing only the US and China.
• AI is projected to contribute $235.2 billion — or 12.4 percent — to Saudi Arabia’s GDP by 2030.
The inauguration of OpenText’s new regional headquarters was attended by Canada’s Minister of International Trade and Economic Development, Maninder Sidhu, and Jean-Philippe Linteau, Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Sidhu emphasized the alignment of Saudi Vision 2030 with Canada’s economic and innovation goals.
“His Highness (Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) and Vision 2030, there is a lot of alignment with Canada, as you know, with the economic collaboration, with his vision around mining, around education, tourism, healthcare, you look at AI and tech, there’s a lot of alignment here at OpenText Grand opening their regional headquarters,” Sidhu told Arab News.
Saudi Arabia’s AI ambitions are projected to contribute $235.2 billion — or 12.4 percent — to its GDP by 2030, according to PwC. The Saudi Data and AI Authority, established by a royal decree in 2019, drives the Kingdom’s national data and AI strategy.
One flagship initiative, Humain, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was launched in May 2025 under the Public Investment Fund. It aims to build a full AI stack — from data centers and cloud infrastructure to models and applications — positioning Saudi Arabia as a globally competitive AI hub. The project plans to establish a data center capacity of 1.8 GW by 2030 and 100 GW of AI compute capacity by 2026.
Saudi Arabia is also expanding international partnerships. In May 2025, Humain signed a $5 billion agreement with Amazon Web Services to accelerate AI adoption domestically and globally, focusing on infrastructure, services, and talent development.
The Kingdom ranked fifth globally and first in the Arab region for AI sector growth under the 2025 Global AI Index, and third worldwide in advanced AI model development, behind only the US and China, according to the Stanford University AI Index 2025.
Education is another pillar of Saudi AI strategy. Starting in the 2025-26 academic year, AI will be taught as a core subject across all public school grades, reaching roughly 6.7 million students. The curriculum will cover algorithmic thinking, data literacy, and AI ethics.
OpenText executives emphasized their commitment to supporting Vision 2030 and the national AI strategy through workforce development.
“OpenText has put a lot of investment in the Kingdom, right. We brought cloud to the Kingdom, we’ve opened our headquarters in the Kingdom, we’ve basically hiring Saudis in the Kingdom, We basically building, if you like, an ecosystem to support the Kingdom. And on top of that, what we’re doing is we’re putting a plan together, if you like, a program to look at how we can educate, if you like, the students at universities,” Schembri said.
“So this is something that we are looking into, we are basically investigating and to see how we can support the Saudi nationals when they come into the workplace. And I’m really excited. I have Harry who is, our leadership who’s supporting this program.”
“It’s something that we are putting together. It’ll take some effort. So it’s still in play because we want to make sure what we put it basically delivers on what we're trying to achieve based on the vision of Saudi,” he added.
“The younger generation is sooner or later either working for us or maybe for a partner or for maybe for a customer. So that’s why we are to 100 percent committed to enable all of that,” Adams said.
