CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai testifies in federal court again

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, was summoned to testify before a federal court for the second time in two weeks regarding an antitrust case of an internet company he helped found.

For the second time in two weeks, Google CEO Sundar Pichai was called before a federal court to testify in an antitrust case that may bring down a key figure in the internet company he helped establish.

Pichai spent more than two hours defending the business methods of the Google Play Store, which distributes apps for the company's Android platform, which powers the majority of smartphones in the world, during his most recent court appearance in San Francisco.

The reserved Pichai occasionally appeared unsurprised and irritated by the direct questions he was asked. At other moments, he appeared to be a lecturer elucidating intricate topics to the jury of ten, situated mere feet away from a podium that Pichai was permitted to utilize due to his inability to remain still for extended periods of time.

The creator of the well-known video game Fortnite, Epic Games, is attempting to persuade the jury that consumers and software developers are being unfairly harmed by a Google Play payment processing system that takes a 15% to 30% commission from in-app purchases. According to Epic, Google gets these commissions by stifling other Android app shops with its market power, a tactic that raises costs and stifles innovation.

It is reminiscent of an earlier lawsuit Epic filed against Apple, the manufacturer of iPhones, which is alternately portrayed in this trial as Google's ally and adversary.