In a historic attack on one of the largest digital companies in the world, top antitrust regulators from the Justice Department have chosen to urge a judge to order Alphabet Inc.’s Google to sell up its Chrome browser. According to those acquainted with the preparations, the department would request that the court, who declared in August that Google had unlawfully monopolized the search market, impose restrictions on artificial intelligence and the Android operating system.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is intensifying its antitrust action against Google and intends to put up important proposals to undermine the company’s hegemonic position in the search business. The need that Google offer Chrome, the most popular online browser in the world, is at the heart of the government’s ideas.
The action comes after the trial court in Google’s antitrust case recently determined that the internet giant had an unlawful monopoly in the online search market.
DOJ Targets Chrome and Cross-Promotion Practices
Government attorneys contended that competition has been stifled by Chrome’s connection with other Google goods. Google is accused of limiting competition chances and stifling market incentives for innovation by utilizing Chrome to cross-promote its ecosystem.
Other facets of Google’s business strategy are also the focus of the DOJ’s recommendations. Officials did not demand that Google sell Android altogether, but they did recommend that the company split its Android operating system from Search and Google Play.
Broader Restrictions on Google’s Operations
Beyond product separation, the DOJ intends to introduce further constraints on Google’s business practices. These include:
- Sharing more advertising data with marketers.
- Allowing advertisers greater control over ad placements.
- Providing websites the ability to opt out of Google’s AI data usage.
- Banning exclusive contracts that were key to the case against Google.
Additionally, the DOJ wants to require Google Search data to be licensed to rival websites and provide indexed websites with the ability to stop Google’s AI models from using their data.