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The US Justice Department is expected to ask a judge to force Google to release one or more of its core products, including the Chrome browser and Android mobile operating system, among potential remedies to curb its power over online search.
The request, which will be filed on Wednesday, will largely follow the framework outlined in the prosecutor’s initial proposal last month, according to sources familiar with the discussions between the US states and the DoJ, which jointly brought the lawsuit against Google. . In his initial proposal, he laid out a broad plan to force Google to share user search data with rivals and limit its ability to use search results to train new generative artificial intelligence models and products.
The “expansive solution” presented by the DoJ follows a ruling earlier this year by Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, DC, which found that Google had developed an illegal monopoly in online search by spending billions of dollars on exclusive deals with wireless. operators, browser developers and device manufacturers, especially Apple.
It will be up to the judge to decide what remedy Google will take. If adopted, the requested relief would be an important victory for the DoJ’s antitrust unit, which according to Jonathan Kanter has eliminated anti-competitive practices throughout the economy, with a particular focus on Big Tech.
The DoJ and countries are also seeking to “pave the way” for AI companies to enter the search market “independently of Google” and “create attractive commercial opportunities (to) become the next generation of search companies”, the person said. said.
Prosecutors are also expected to ask the judge to stop Google from paying partners such as Apple billions of dollars a year to make Google’s search engine the default in web browsers – a contract that is at the heart of the legal challenge. Google’s contract is worth more than $26bn in 2021 alone, with an estimated $20bn going to Apple, helping make Google the default search engine on popular mobile devices.
A Google spokeswoman declined to comment and referred to a blog post published last month that said the “blueprint exceeds the scope of the court’s ruling on search distribution contracts”, and stated plans to appeal.
The DoJ declined to comment.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has vowed to appeal against the liability decision and will probably also fight the drug decision, which could extend the high stakes and complicated process by years. The company, which handles more than 90 percent of online enquiries, says it faces tough competition in the sector and is successful because of the quality of its products.
Google offers Chrome and its Android operating system for free, using it as a loss leader to promote its search and advertising business, which generates the majority of its revenue.
If Google is eventually forced to ditch Chrome, it will lose control of the world’s most-used browser that accounts for nearly two-thirds of the US market.
The lawyer claimed that rolling Chrome would harm consumers because few other companies have the capacity to invest the billions a year needed to keep the browser safe and competitive with rivals, such as Apple’s Safari, while still providing it free of charge.
Mehta will likely rule on the drug by mid-2025. But the case — as well as the rest of the Biden administration’s antitrust crackdown on Big Tech — is entering an uncertain period as president-elect Donald Trump takes office in January and installs his own enforcement.
It’s not clear whether the incoming administration will continue to pursue tough drugs as it is now, or whether it will take a more lenient approach to Google and other powerful tech companies.
The Google case is one of several antitrust actions brought against Big Tech by US regulators in recent years. Apple, which is also being sued by the DoJ, appeared in US federal court in New Jersey on Wednesday, where its lawyers said the judge should dismiss the lawsuit against the iPhone maker for monopolizing the smartphone market.
Cases are also pending against Meta and Amazon, and antitrust regulators at the Federal Trade Commission plan to investigate Microsoft’s cloud business.
Additional reporting by Michael Acton
