Google and Microsoft have drawn their swords. The California-based search engine giant and the Washington-based software company are wrestling to throw each other under the bus, fueled in part by pressure from lawmakers and regulators concerned about the immense influence the two technology giants possess over American life.
Tensions between Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet's Google have been simmering for some time, but the rivalry has recently become unusually public as executives from both companies have been placed on the defensive over competing crises. Google is facing bipartisan criticism - as well as journalistic ire - for its position in slashing the media industry's ad revenue, which is the focus of a Congressional antitrust investigation.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is under fire for its part in two separate cybersecurity breaches. In the first case, the same allegedly Russian hackers who broke into Texas tech firm SolarWinds Corp also used Microsoft's cloud software to break into some of the firm's clients.  The second, who was revealed on March 2, involved suspected Chinese hackers exploiting previously undisclosed vulnerabilities to collect emails from Microsoft customers all over the world.