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On Friday, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia threw out a complaint that Attorney General Karl Racine had filed against Amazon accusing the retailer of anticompetitive behavior, according to The Wall Street Journal. Last June, Racine’s office alleged that Amazon had used a variety of contract provisions to prevent third-party sellers from offering their wares for less elsewhere.

“We believe that the Superior Court got this wrong, and its oral ruling did not seem to consider the detailed allegations in the complaint, the full scope of the anticompetitive agreements, the extensive briefing and a recent decision of a federal court to allow a nearly identical lawsuit to move forward,” a spokesperson for the attorney general told the outlet.

At the center of Racine’s suit was Amazon’s Fair Pricing Policy. In 2019, amid antitrust scrutiny, the company stopped telling third-party sellers they couldn’t offer their wares at lower prices on competing marketplaces. The complaint alleged that Amazon added a near-identical clause under its Fair Pricing Policy. The suit said that those guidelines allow the company to impose sanctions on merchants that sell their products for less money elsewhere.

When Racine's office first filed its complaint, Amazon argued that many retailers employ pricing restrictions in their contracts. “The DC Attorney General has it exactly backwards — sellers set their own prices for the products they offer in our store," a spokesperson for the company told Engadget at the time. “Amazon takes pride in the fact that we offer low prices across the broadest selection, and like any store we reserve the right not to highlight offers to customers that are not priced competitively. The relief the AG seeks would force Amazon to feature higher prices to customers, oddly going against core objectives of antitrust law.”

Racine’s office said it was weighing whether to appeal the ruling. “We are considering our legal options and we’ll continue fighting to develop reasoned antitrust jurisprudence in our local courts and to hold Amazon accountable for using its concentrated power to unfairly tilt the playing field in its favor,” it told The Journal.

If you've been waiting for an excuse to pick up a robot vacuum, you'll want to turn your attention to Amazon. The retailer has discounted one of the best mid-range models: the Eufy RoboVac X8.

For today only, it's $200 off, so you can purchase one for $400 instead of $600. The X8 is missing some features you'll find on more expensive robot vacuums. Most notably, it doesn't come with a clean base. It also doesn't include the mop functionality found on Eufy's X8 Hybrid model. However, if you can do without those two features, the X8 represents excellent value, particularly at $400. It comes with four cleaning modes and four suction levels. Even running the vacuum at its lowest setting, we found it could still thoroughly suction up dust and dirt. We also found it was easy to set up, with a mobile app that offers a handful of valuable features, including a "tap and go" one that lets you pinpoint any spot in your home for cleaning.

If you're looking for a more affordable option, consider the RoboVac 30C. It's not as powerful as the X8 and it features a less advanced navigation system but at its current price of $170, down from $300, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better robot vacuum for the price.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

General Motors is acquiring SoftBank's stake in Cruise and pouring even more money into the self-driving unit it purchased in 2016. The auto giant has announced that it's buying out SoftBank Vision Fund 1's equity ownership into the company that's worth $2.1 billion. In addition, it has committed to investing an extra $1.35 billion in Cruise to replace the funding SoftBank promised in February after the self-driving car company started offering robotaxi rides in San Francisco. 

The automaker didn't say why it's buying SoftBank's equity ownership, but GM chief executive Mary Barra said:

"Our increased investment position not only simplifies Cruise's shareholder structure, but also provides GM and Cruise maximum flexibility to pursue the most value-accretive path to commercializing and unlocking the full potential of AV technology."

SoftBank, meanwhile, has recently struggled with debt and the plummeting value of its properties. It may no longer be interested in an investment that won't field returns anytime soon. In February, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said the company would sell "a good chunk of assets" after ARM's multi-billion sale to NVIDIA fell through.

As TechCrunch notes, GM could have also bought out SoftBank as a step towards spinning out Cruise or taking it public. A GM spokesperson told the publication that the automaker will "consider all opportunities to create value for [its] shareholders" and that it "has not ruled out a future IPO of Cruise."

The California Public Utilities Commission recently granted Cruise (and Waymo) permission to charge for robotaxi rides in the state, as long as there's a human driver behind the wheel. Cruise already applied for a Driverless Deployment permit, but the agency is still reviewing its application. 

Lessons from 19 years in the metaverse

Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic

The metaverse isn't really a new concept. In his Galaxy Brain newsletter, Warzel chats with Wagner James Au, journalist and author who was offered the chance to be a reporter embedded inside Second Life. He speaks to both the history and future of digital communities with hope and criticism. 

Video games keep getting longer. It’s all about time and money.

Teddy Amenabar, The Washington Post

The golden age of video games is about more than finding time to play them all. It's also about finding the time to actually finish them. And if you're spending more time in a certain universe, you might be willing to spend more money there. 

How California is building the nation’s first privacy police

David McCabe, The New York Times

California's new online privacy regulator is the first agency of its kind in the US. The Times speaks with its leader Ashkan Soltani about how he's creating what's "easily the most difficult thing I’ve done in my life, but also I think potentially the most impactful." 

Blizzard Entertainment has finally announced a specific launch date for the Overwatch 2 PvP beta on PC: April 26th. The gaming company previously revealed that the beta for the sequel's 5-on-5 PvP mode will go live in late April. Now, you can mark the 26th on your calendars and block out that weekend to play matches. In addition to 5-on-5 battles — the Overwatch PvP is 6-on-6 — the beta also comes with four fresh maps, the new Push mode and redesigned heroes. In fact, one of those heroes is getting more than just a stats/abilities upgrade or a model makeover.

A few days ago, Blizzard posted a screenshot of the game showing Doomfist as a tank. While the image has since been deleted, the company has eventually confirmed that the character is changing roles to tank from damage hero. 

Blizzard has been testing the role change for Doomfist since last year, hero lead designer Geoff Goodman revealed on Reddit in October. Back then, Goodman explained that the character's kit is "full of crowd control effects and mobility" and that makes him difficult to tune and balance as a damage hero for Overwatch 2. He'll be able to keep those properties as a tank, though he'll obviously lose some damage and gain some defense points. In Overwatch 2, teams can only have one tank, so the player's choice could be they key to their victory. 

Players can now sign up to get access to Overwatch 2's PvP beta on the game's official website.

The Brazilian Supreme Court has banned Telegram in the country and has ordered Brazil's telecoms regulator Anatel to implement the suspension within 24 hours. According to Reuters and The New York Times, Justice Alexandre de Moraes cited the messaging app's failure to respond to previous judicial orders to freeze accounts spreading disinformation for his decision. 

In Brazil, Telegram has become the platform of choice for supporters of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro after social networks like Facebook and Twitter started implementing stricter measures against fake news. Moraes, who's also currently overseeing a number of investigations into Bolsonaro and his allies for spreading disinformation, has ordered internet providers and phone carriers to block people's access to Telegram in the country ahead of the presidential election in October. 

The Supreme Court justice has ordered Google and Apple to remove the messaging service from their app stores, as well. All the companies must comply within five days or face a fine of $20,000 per day. In addition, people caught using VPNs or other means to access Telegram after it's already been blocked will also face a $20,000 fine. 

Bolsonaro called the decision "inadmissible" during an event. Anderson Torres, the Minister of Justice and Public Security appointed by Bolsonaro, criticized Moraes' ruling and said the "monocratic decision" harms millions of Brazilians. 

Telegram Chief Executive Pavel Durov said his company missed the court's emails and is asking for a delay on the ban to get a chance to "remedy the situation." Durov vows to appoint a representative in Brazil and to set up a framework that will allow the company to reply to pressing issues in the country more quickly. "I apologize to the Brazilian Supreme Court for our negligence. We definitely could have done a better job," he said. It remains to be seen whether Moraes would give Telegram a chance. As it stands, the ban will be implemented and will stay in place until the service complies with previous orders and pays a series of fines. 

A second Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York will vote on whether to form a union, reported CNBC. The outcome of the vote, scheduled to begin on April 25th and last until May 2nd, will decide whether employees at the LDJ5 facility join the Amazon Labor Union, an independent, worker-led movement formed last year in Staten Island. Roughly a mile away, another Staten Island Amazon warehouse (known as JFK8) is set to hold its own union election next week.

Both elections are the latest development in a battle with Amazon on one side, unions and Amazon warehouse workers on the other side, and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) serving as the referee. NLRB ordered a re-run of a union election held at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama after determining that the tech giant illegally interfered in the vote. Votes for that election are scheduled to be counted on March 28th. 

Earlier this week, NLRB sued Amazon over the termination of Gerald Bryson, an employee of the JFK8 facility, who the agency believes was fired in retaliation for his activism. According to a tweet by ALU, Bryson’s employment at Amazon appears to have been reinstated after a federal judge complied with NLRB’s request to issue an injunction.

Staten Island workers have accused Amazon of union-busting and actively targeting workers involved in the union. Last month the NYPD arrested three labor organizers at the JFK8 facility — including ALU president Chris Smalls — after an Amazon manager complained that they were trespassing, reported The Daily Beast.

The first branch of Google’s Equiano underwater internet cable — which will eventually run from Cape Town, South Africa to Lisbon, Portugal — has landed in Lomé, Togo, the company announced Friday. The massive fiber optic cable will be Google’s first to run from Africa to Europe, and is expected to bring internet connectivity to millions of people across both continents. This will be especially impactful in Togo, where according to DataReportal an estimated 74 percent of people don’t have access to the internet. The cable is expected to deliver 20 times more internet capacity to the region.

Google began investing heavily in subsea cable internet nearly a decade ago, with its first co-owned cable project Unity (which stretches from Chikura, Japan to Redondo Beach, California) going into service in 2010. The company has invested in—either solely or as a part of a consortium — a total of 19 undersea cables. Its most recently completed project, Dunant, went into service in January 2021 and runs from Virginia Beach to the French Coast.

Alphabet far from the only tech giant to invest heavily in undersea cables, which have become more ubiquitous with the growth of the mobile internet. Google along with Meta, Microsoft and Amazon now dominate the world’s critical cable infrastructure, as the Wall Street Journalnotes. Last month, Meta announced plans to build at least two transatlantic undersea cables by 2027.

Undersea cables have one notable downside: The cables can tear and break, either due to natural disasters or human activity like fishing. Cable breaks are particularly common along the coasts of Africa, and can leave entire regions without connectivity for days. Last year a massive mudslide in South Africa caused two undersea cables to break, which led to service disruptions and slowdowns across the entire continent. But in the event of a break, a nearby undersea cable can be used as a backup.

Once in service, Equiano will provide additional insurance to a region that badly needs it. After Togo, Equiano’s next stop will be in Nigeria and Namibia, before heading to its final landing in Cape Town, South Africa. It is expected to be fully in service later this year.

LG is joining other tech heavyweights in halting Russian sales following that country's invasion of Ukraine. The company said in a statement it was "suspending" all product shipments to Russia. The firm didn't say how long this would last, but noted it would keep a "close watch" on the situation. LG is "deeply concerned" about everyone's welfare and "committed" to humanitarian relief, according to the notice.

It's not clear just what prompted the timing of the decision, which comes weeks after the late February invasion. There's a lot of pressure to act, however. Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and others have already frozen shipments and sales in Russia — LG wasn't going to look good if it continued to serve the Russian market despite that country's war against Ukraine.

This move could be particularly damaging. While LG has left the phone industry, it's still a major force in electronics that makes everything from TVs through to air conditioners and refrigerators. Between LG's move and Samsung's, Russia will have lost two of the largest device brands on the planet. Russians are likely to still have options thanks to brands from China and elsewhere, but their choices will be considerably narrower.