The US Justice Department today reiterated what steps it wants a judge to take to address Google’s monopoly in online search.
In November, the DOJ shared their draft proposal and an updated version was filed today ahead of a hearing in April.
The government still wants Google to divest (sell) Chrome since it is an “important search access point.” This is to “provide an opportunity for a new rival to operate a significant gateway to search the internet, free of Google’s monopoly control.” (It’s unclear what a future buyer would do with the open-source Chromium project aspect of Chrome.)
Meanwhile, the DOJ is no longer giving Google the option to sell Android, and wants it to implement various changes. However, if those measures don’t make the market more competitive, Google could be forced to sell the operating system.
One change is that Google can make investments in AI companies after the government found that this restriction “could cause unintended consequences in the evolving AI space.” However, Google has to provide notice to allow for a review of the proposed transaction.
Other requests remain in place.
Google is expected to file its revised proposal today. In December, Google proposed its own changes to Android and browser contracts.
After next month’s hearing, a final ruling is expected before September 2025. Google has already said it would appeal the underlying decision.
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