The Justice Department has released an initial plan calling for Alphabet Inc.’s Google to dismantle parts of its search business after a federal judge in August ruled it an illegal monopoly.
The sweeping proposal — which strikes at the company’s tech golden goose — limits new deals with smartphone or PC makers; places restrictions on the use of AI; and suggests a major restructuring of Google’s multibillion-dollar division as it increasingly ventures into adding AI tools to search.
One reshuffling idea would require Google to divest its Chrome browser and its Android operating system. Another would force Google to stop payments to partners such as Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics to have Google’s search engine pre-installed or set as the default on new devices.
A cornerstone of the DoJ’s successful case was Google’s $20 billion deal with Apple to be the search default on the iPhone.
The AI piece is particularly intriguing as Google attempts to tie more AI features into its Gemini model: Justice is considering barring Google from entering into agreements that limit its AI rivals’ access to content and allowing websites to opt out of Google using their content to train AI models. [Last week, Google announced an AI-powered search upgrade as well as plans to bring the ability to search for information about live videos shot in its Google Lens app. Additionally, Google said it is bringing ads to its AI Overview to run alongside search results.]
A final DoJ plan is due in late November.
“Fully remedying these harms requires not only ending Google’s control of distribution today, but also ensuring Google cannot control the distribution of tomorrow,” the DoJ said in a statement.
In a blog post, Google scoffed at the initial proposal as “radical” and one that would have “significant unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and American competitiveness.”
Vanderbilt Law School professor Rebecca Allensworth told Bloomberg she thinks it is “very unlikely” that federal judge Amit Mehta favors a breakup of some sort.
Last week, a federal judge ordered Google to overhaul its Android app store, giving users more options to download apps and to pay for transactions within them.
The three-year injunction on Monday by U.S. District Court Judge James Donato in San Francisco forces Google to open its app store, Play, to greater competition. Under the order, Google also cannot bar the use of in-app payment methods and it must give users the option of downloading competing third-party Android apps platforms or stores.
