The US Justice Department is considering a federal judge’s request to force Google to sell parts of its business in what would be a historic breakup of one of the world’s biggest technology companies.
Antitrust authorities are considering a split to ease the dominance of Alphabet Inc.’s business. in the search, the agency said in a court filing Tuesday, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News. Judge Amit Mehta could also order Google to provide access to the underlying data it uses to build its search results and artificial intelligence products, it said.
The Justice Department is “considering behavioral and structural measures that would prevent Google from using products like Chrome, Play and Android to benefit Google Search and Google Search-related products and features — including new search access points and features, such as artificial intelligence — compared to competitors or new entrants,” the agency said.
The 32-page document lays out a framework of potential options for the judge to consider as the case moves into the remedy phase. The agency said it would issue a more complete proposal on remedies next month.
The effort is the most significant move to crack down on a major technology company for illegal monopolization since Washington tried unsuccessfully to break up Microsoft two decades ago. The Justice Department and the US Federal Trade Commission have targeted Big Tech’s dominance, scrutinizing deals and investments and accusing some of the nation’s most powerful companies of illegally dominating markets.
The Justice Department earlier this year sued Apple for stifling innovation by blocking competitors from accessing hardware and software features. The FTC sent inquiries to Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.com Inc. about their investments in AI startups as part of a study of how these partnerships affect competition.
Antitrust authorities said Google gained scale and data benefits through its illegal distribution agreements with other technology companies that made its search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers. Google’s Android business includes the operating system used on smartphones and devices, as well as applications.
The Justice Department also said it could seek a requirement that Google give websites more options to opt out of its artificial intelligence products. The agency said it is considering proposals related to Google’s dominance of text search ads, such as requests that the company provide more information and control to advertisers over where their ads appear. The agency may also request that Google be prohibited from investing in competitors or potential competitors in search engines.
Google criticized the Justice Department’s request as “radical,” saying it would have “significant unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and American competitiveness.”
“We believe today’s draft goes far beyond the legal scope of the Court’s ruling on Search distribution agreements,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, wrote in a blog post.
Antitrust pressure from multiple cases is growing against Google. Mehta, who ruled this summer that Google violated antitrust laws in both the online search market and the text search ad market, plans to hold a trial on the proposed remedy next spring and rule by August 2025. Google has already said it plans to appeal the Mehta’s decision, but he must wait until he finishes his legal remedy before doing so.
European Union watchdogs similarly touted the option of breaking up Google’s business to assuage anti-competition concerns last year. Competition chief Margrethe Vestager said “layoffs are the only way” to address concerns that the company is favoring its own services to the detriment of ad tech rivals, advertisers and online publishers. The EU case – which could reach a final decision by the end of this year – marked the latest escalation in a long-running saga that has already resulted in three EU fines totaling more than 8 billion euros ($8.8 billion or roughly Rs. 73,886 crore ) for abuses on other Google services.
“We believe a breakup of Google is unlikely at this point despite the antitrust whirlwind,” said Daniel Ives, managing director and senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities. “Google will be fighting this in court for years.”
A group of US states suing Google over its search monopoly separately from the Justice Department said they could ask the tech giant to pay for a public education campaign on how to change search engines.
On Monday, another federal judge ordered Google to open its app store for the next three years to settle a separate antitrust case brought by Epic Games Inc. linked to its dominance in app distribution on Android smartphones. The company also plans to appeal the decision.
Last month, the Justice Department and Google faced off in a third antitrust lawsuit targeting the company’s dominance of the technology used to buy and sell online display ads. Closing arguments in that lawsuit are scheduled for the end of November. Antitrust enforcement authorities have said they plan to force Google to sell parts of its advertising technology business if a court finds the company has monopolized that market.
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(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)