DOJ Still Wants Google To Sell Chrome But Can Keep AI Investments

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DOJ Still Wants Google To Sell Chrome, But Can Keep AI Investments

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Google had a mixed day on Friday as it sorts through several demands from the U.S. Department of Justice.

On Friday the Department of Justice (DOJ) stood by its demand that a court break up the search giant, but dropped a proposal to force the company to sell its investments in AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic to boost competition in online search.

“DOJ’s sweeping proposals continue to go miles beyond the Court’s decision, and would harm America’s consumers, economy and national security,” a Google spokesperson wrote in an email to MediaPost.

In a blog post, Google said it strongly disagrees with and will appeal the decision in the DOJ's search distribution lawsuit.

The DOJ and 38 state attorneys general still seek a court order requiring Google to sell its Chrome browser, along with other measures related to mobile device manufacturers.

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Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last year ruled Google had illegally maintained a monopoly in online search.

The government wanted Google to divest its stakes in any AI products that could compete with search.

Google holds a minority stake worth billions of dollars in Anthropic, according to Reuters, and reported that losing the investment in Anthropic would give OpenAI a competitive advantage, the AI company wrote in a February filing.

The DOJ altered that portion of its request, saying Google instead must notify federal and state officials before proceeding with AI investments.

Mehta is scheduled to hear arguments on proposed solutions from the government and Google in late April, but heard remedies today based on the U.S. government's antitrust case last year.

“Google’s illegal conduct has created an economic goliath, one that wreaks havoc over the marketplace to ensure that — no matter what occurs — Google always wins,” reported The New York Times, citing the DOJ’s Friday filing. “The American people thus are forced to accept the unbridled demands and shifting, ideological preferences of an economic leviathan in return for a search engine the public may enjoy.”

Google filed its own final proposal on Friday, maintaining its position that the company shouldn’t need to change much to address the judge’s concerns.

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March 7, 2025 at 10:37PM