Following years of worldwide growth and mergers within the technology industry, antitrust concerns are now a prominent issue for companies globally.

A gradual and fragmented series of actions over the past ten years has recently transformed into a swift and extensive wave of measures targeting the industry, with the United States comparatively slower to respond than other regions.

These actions are particularly noticeable in China, where regulatory bodies have, after a period of relatively unrestricted policies toward its internet companies, begun to implement significant changes affecting its largest technology firms.

This shift began after Chinese regulators halted the planned initial public offering of Ant Group in early November. Ant Group, a major Chinese technology company specializing in fintech, was poised for a valuation exceeding $300 billion and currently serves 1.3 billion active users, primarily in China and among the global Chinese community.

This regulatory decision resulted in an immediate $60 billion decrease in Alibaba’s market capitalization, considering Alibaba’s 33% ownership stake in Ant Group.

The challenging news from Beijing continues to impact the technology sector. Earlier this week, regulators unveiled a “rectification” plan for Ant Group, encompassing stricter lending regulations anticipated to substantially affect the company’s revenue, profitability, and expansion. The Wall Street Journal reported today that China also intends to reduce Jack Ma’s influence over his business holdings, potentially through increased government ownership in technology companies.

Moreover, Beijing appears prepared to encourage greater cooperation between Alibaba and Tencent and to foster an environment conducive to the growth of startups independent of these two dominant corporate structures. Earlier this month, authorities imposed a fine on Alibaba and reviewed a Tencent acquisition, actions interpreted by analysts as the beginning of a renewed antitrust effort. Further interventions are anticipated in 2021.

China is not alone in scrutinizing tech companies. Approximately a year ago, Germany-based Delivery Hero announced a $4 billion acquisition of Seoul-based Baedal Minjok, a widely used food delivery application. Yesterday, South Korean competition authorities mandated that Delivery Hero divest its existing local delivery assets to secure approval for the acquisition—a requirement that diminishes a key rationale for acquiring Baedal Minjok. Delivery Hero has stated its intention to sell the unit to finalize the transaction.

Simultaneously, Europe and the United Kingdom, following its departure from the European Union, have announced a series of new policies and regulations aimed at enhancing competition within the technology sector, including increased legal responsibility for unlawful content, greater transparency regarding services, and the enforcement of open competition on major platforms. These policies have been in development for some time, but their increasing implementation signals substantial changes in how the largest technology companies operate in Europe.

While many of these global policies aim to reverse the consolidation and scale of the industry, India’s regulators are focused on preventing such scale from occurring in the first place. Local competition authorities announced a framework in November that would limit any company’s share of local payments volume to a maximum of 30% and also require financial interoperability standards. This policy seems designed to prevent the emergence of a fintech duopoly similar to the one observed in China between Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Amidst this global surge in antitrust activity, the United States has been relatively slow to act, potentially due to the domestic location of many of the largest technology companies. Although Congress, the president, and numerous state attorneys general have increasingly voiced concerns about the reach of companies like Amazon, Google, and Facebook, concrete actions against these giants remain in their initial stages.

The most significant action to date is a comprehensive lawsuit filed earlier this month by 46 states against Facebook. As previously reported, the lawsuit “asserts that the company acquired competitors ‘illegally’ and in a ‘predatory fashion’ to expand and maintain its market dominance. The suit highlights Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp as key examples.”

As some may recall from the 1990s, with the U.S. government’s case against Microsoft, antitrust litigation frequently extends for years and often yields limited or no substantial changes in the end.

The extent to which a Biden administration will alter the trajectory of these actions remains uncertain, as the transition period offers limited insight as it prepares to assume office next month.

Nevertheless, the simultaneous occurrence of these antitrust actions worldwide within a short timeframe suggests significant regulatory challenges for the technology sector in 2021.