The Justice Department and a group of U.S. states have proposed major changes at Alphabet Inc.’s Google — including a forced sale of the Chrome browser — in the wake of a landmark ruling that said the tech giant illegally monopolized online search.
In a court filing Wednesday, antitrust authorities said Google must divest Chrome, citing the judge’s previous ruling that the browser “strengthened” the company’s dominance. The agency and states said they also preferred divestment of the Android operating system for smartphones. But recognizing that Google and others might object, they proposed a series of limits on the business unit.
The government recommended divestment of Chrome to “permanently impede Google’s control over this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser which, for many users, is a gateway to the Internet,” according to the lawsuit.
Google said the DOJ’s proposal would harm Americans’ privacy and security, harm Google’s investments in artificial intelligence, as well as hurt companies like Mozilla — which relies on revenue taken by Google to make its search engine the default option. in the Firefox browser.
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“The DOJ’s extremely comprehensive proposal goes far beyond the Court’s decision. It would destroy a number of Google products — beyond search — that people love and find useful in their everyday lives,” wrote Kent Walker, the company’s chief legal officer, in a statement.
The lawsuit proposes a 10-year remedy to U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who will decide in the second quarter of 2025 how to restore competition lost due to Google’s illegal conduct. At the end of the process, the judge must order Google to make any changes it deems appropriate.
The proposal would prohibit Google from entering into the exclusivity agreements that are at the heart of the lawsuit – where the company paid to ensure that its search engine was the default pre-installed on devices or browsers. In the case of existing agreements, the company would be required to offer smartphone manufacturers and phone carriers the option of presenting a choice to consumers.
The Justice Department also said that Google should be required to license both its underlying “clicks and queries” data and its search results to potential rivals to help them improve their products. As part of this license, Google must include all content from its own properties, such as YouTube, that it includes in its own search offering.
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A five-member technical committee will be appointed to oversee Google’s compliance with the court order.
Mehta ruled that Google violated laws antitrust in the online search and text ad markets. Wednesday’s lawsuit is the government’s first proposal on how to mitigate the damage caused by Google’s illegal monopoly. In October, the government presented a draft, giving some initial views on possible solution options.
The company will have the opportunity to present its own views next month, and the Justice Department is expected to offer an additional response in March, ahead of a two-week hearing scheduled for April. The Trump administration, which takes office in January, may make changes to the proposed agreement.
Limits of AI
The Justice Department also included some limits related to AI, saying the expanding field provides “the most likely path for a new generation of research competitors in the long term.”
The proposal would drastically restrict Google’s potential dealings and investments, preventing it from acquiring, investing in, or collaborating in any way with any digital search or advertising provider. This also applies to any company that controls where consumers search for information, the agency said, including query-based AI products.
If approved, the government’s request would require Google to divest from any existing partnerships — a provision that could call into question the search giant’s investment in AI startup Anthropic.
Under the proposal, the company would also be prohibited from offering exclusive agreements to content providers. The DOJ is reserving the option of forcing an Android divestiture later if Google doesn’t comply with the rest of the ruling.
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At the Google trial last year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft Corp., raised the specter of Google blocking major websites and content sources for their exclusive use to train AI models. Since then, AI companies have been closing licensing deals to feed their models with more content. Reddit Inc. said in February that it had signed more than $200 million in licensing agreements with AI companies seeking to use its content.
