Social Media Addicts, Seed Antitrust, AI Tax

Social Media Addicts, Seed Antitrust, AI Tax

From Votes & Verdicts by Bloomberg

May 29, 2026 · 27 min

About this episode

This episode discusses lawsuits against social media companies, antitrust issues in the seed market, and the impact of AI on taxation.

A multitude of suits against social media companies like Alphabet, ByteDance, Meta and Snap accusing them of causing addiction and other harms lead this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s Votes and Verdicts podcast. Matt Schettenhelm previews a trial against Meta by over 30 state attorneys general set to start Aug. 17, with tens of billions in damages and penalties at stake, creating major pressure to settle. Justin Teresi discusses a Justice Department probe of exclusionary conduct in the corn and soybean seed markets, with companies like Bayer and Corteva potentially exposed. Andrew Silverman explains why AI-driven productivity gains could increase tax pressure on companies like Amazon, Nvidia and Intel tied to compute, energy and infrastructure as governments adapt tax systems previously built around labor and payrolls. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Guests: Matt Schettenhelm, Justin Teresi, Andrew Silverman

Topics covered

  • social media lawsuits
  • antitrust in agriculture
  • AI and taxation
  • Meta trial
  • seed market investigation
  • productivity and tax pressure

Keywords

  • social media addiction
  • antitrust
  • Meta
  • seed market
  • AI tax
  • productivity
  • lawsuits
  • government regulation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Alphabet, ByteDance, Meta, Snap, Bayer, Corteva, Amazon, Nvidia, Intel

Places: United States

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