Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, took the witness stand Monday to defend his social media empire in a landmark antitrust trial that could dismantle a company that has transformed how the world connects online.

In a packed courthouse in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, lawyers for the federal government pushed Zuckerberg to define the social networking market as one that just connects friends and family, so that they could set up how Meta dominates that area. The government has contended that Meta illegally cemented a monopoly by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp when they were tiny startups, combining them into the same company, which was known as Facebook then.

In response, Zuckerberg described the social media market as much larger than how the government was defining it. Connecting friends and family is “one of the core things” the company does, he said, but Meta is also involved in “the general idea of entertainment and learning about the world and discovering what’s going on.”

Zuckerberg was the first witness in the trial, Federal Trade Commission v. Meta Platforms. Earlier Monday, the FTC opened its first antitrust trial under the Trump administration by arguing that Meta’s acquisitions were part of a “buy-or-bury strategy.” Ultimately, the purchases coalesced Meta’s power, depriving consumers of other social-networking options and edging out competition, the government said.

Meta’s lawyers denied the allegations in opening statements, countering that the company faces plenty of competition from TikTok and other social media platforms. The FTC approved the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp more than a decade ago, and trying to unwind the mergers would set a dangerous precedent, the lawyers added.

The trial poses the most consequential threat to the business empire of Zuckerberg, the company’s co-founder. If the government succeeds, the FTC is likely to ask Meta to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, potentially shifting the way Silicon Valley does business and altering a long pattern in which big tech companies have snapped up younger rivals.

Still, legal experts cautioned that it might be challenging for the FTC to win. That’s because the government must prove something unknowable — that Meta wouldn’t have achieved the same success without the acquisitions. It is also extremely rare to try to unwind mergers approved years ago, legal experts said.

— New York Times

China’s exports up 12.4% over past year

China’s exports jumped 12.4% in March from a year earlier in a last-minute flurry of activity as companies rushed to beat increases in U.S. tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, and analysts forecast sharp setbacks ahead.

Imports fell 4.3% to $211.3 billion in March, the customs administration reported, far exceeded by exports worth $313.9 billion, leaving a trade surplus of $102.6 billion.

China’s trade surplus surged to a record $992.2 billion in 2024 and its exports climbed 5.4%, helping to make up for sluggish growth at home as the country slowly recovers from a crisis in its property market and lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

China’s trade surplus with the United States was $27.6 billion in March as its exports to the U.S. rose 4.5%. It logged a surplus of $76.6 billion with the U.S. in January-March even though exports were up only 2.3% the first two months of the year.

Nvidia to move some production to U.S.

Nvidia announced Monday that it will produce its artificial intelligence super computers in the United States for the first time.

The tech giant said it has commissioned more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing space to build and test its specialized Blackwell chips in Arizona and AI supercomputers in Texas — part of an investment the company said will produce up to half a trillion dollars of AI infrastructure in the next four years.

Nvidia’s announcement comes as the Trump administration has said that tariff exemptions on electronics like smartphones and laptops are only a temporary reprieve until officials develop a new tariff approach specific to the semiconductor industry.

Tariff-era dollar decline continues

The U.S. dollar extended its slide against other major currencies on Monday, the latest sign that investors may be starting to shun what has long been the safest haven in global financial markets.

An index that tracks the dollar against a basket of major trading partners fell for a fifth straight day, even as U.S. stocks and bonds rallied. The dollar has fallen by roughly 8% this year, trading near a three-year low.

There has been a particularly steep decline since President Donald Trump announced tariffs on nearly every country’s imports a few weeks ago. The dollar has lost value against the euro, the yen, the pound and a host of other currencies, making imports from those countries more expensive for Americans, even before tariffs are applied.

— From news services