State attorneys general are preparing for their own investigations into big tech platforms including Google and Facebook, based on concerns that largely mirror those driving probes by the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and Congress. Several state attorneys general and aides said a core group of AGs has been discussing how to address antitrust-related concerns around big tech companies for some months. One official estimated the number of attorneys general who are involved at between 12 and 20. While the federal government still carries the most clout, “meaningful litigation to check companies over the last 30 years seems to be starting out more and more from the state AGs,” said Jeff Landry, the Louisiana attorney general, in a recent interview. “Now it’s up to the AGs and DOJ and FTC...to solve” the problems.

Two House lawmakers looking to craft a consensus data privacy bill found themselves on opposite sides of an emerging debate: whether legislation should create a new privacy division at the Federal Trade Commission. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who heads the House Commerce Committee's Consumer Protection Subcommittee, said she’ll pursue that option. “At this point, I think we will not be calling for a separate independent agency, but we will be calling for a division within the Federal Trade Commission,” she said. But the suggestion drew pushback from her GOP counterpart. “I agree that the FTC should be the cop on the beat when it comes to enforcement of privacy standards, but I’m focused on helping consumers through limited and specific jurisdiction of the FTC, not through creating even more bureaucracy,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the top Republican on the subcommittee. Chair Schakowsky, however, said she’s willing to advance a bill without bipartisan support. “Obviously it would be a great thing if we could do it with the Republicans,” she said, but later added, “We want to, plan to, with or without them.”

Google has warned the Trump Administration it risks compromising US national security if it pushes ahead with sweeping export restrictions on Huawei, as the technology group seeks to continue doing business with the blacklisted Chinese company. Senior executives at Google are pushing US officials to exempt it from a ban on exports to Huawei without a licence approved by Washington. Google is concerned it would not be allowed to update its Android operating system on Huawei’s smartphones, which it argues would prompt the Chinese company to develop its own version of the software. Google argues a Huawei-modified version of Android would be more susceptible to being hacked, apparently. Huawei has said it would be able to develop its own operating system “very quickly”.