US Justice Department moves to force Google to sell Chrome in major antitrust case

Top antitrust officials at the U.S. Justice Department have moved to request that a judge compel Alphabet’s Google to divest its Chrome browser, marking a significant step in the government’s ongoing crackdown on the tech giant.

The department will ask the judge, who ruled in August that Google illegally monopolized the search market, to require measures related to artificial intelligence and its Android smartphone operating system, according to people familiar with the plans, News.az reports, citing Bloomberg.
Antitrust officials, along with states that have joined the case, also plan to recommend Wednesday that federal Judge Amit Mehta impose data-licensing requirements, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter.

If Mehta accepts the proposals, they have the potential to reshape the online search market and the burgeoning AI industry. The case was filed under the first administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump and continued under current U.S. President Joe Biden. It marks the most aggressive effort to rein in a technology company since Washington unsuccessfully sought to break up Microsoft two decades ago.

Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said the Justice Department "continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case.” She added, "the government putting its thumb on the scale in these ways would harm consumers, developers and American technological leadership at precisely the moment it is most needed.”

The Justice Department declined to comment.

Antitrust enforcers want the judge to order Google to sell off Chrome — the most widely used browser worldwide — because it represents a key access point through which many people use its search engine, said the people.

The government has the option to decide whether a Chrome sale is necessary at a later date if some of the other aspects of the remedy create a more competitive market, they said. The Chrome browser controls about 61% of the market in the U.S., according to StatCounter, a web traffic analytics service.

Government attorneys met with dozens of companies over the past three months as they prepared the recommendation. States are still considering adding some proposals and some details could change, the people said.

The antitrust officials pulled back from a more severe option that would have forced Google to sell off Android, the people said.

News.Az