Technology
The US Department of Justice continues to urge Google to promote its web browser Chrome, as stated in a court document released on Friday court filing.
Initially, the DOJ suggested that Google should continue to endorse Chrome last year under then-President Joe Biden, and it seems they are maintaining this stance under the second Trump management. However, the department is no longer insisting that the company divest all its holdings in artificial intelligence, including the substantial investments google has made in Anthropic.
“Google’s illegal conduct has established an economic giant that disrupts the market to ensure that — regardless of what happens — Google always prevails,” stated the DOJ in a filing signed by Omeed Assefi, its current acting attorney general for antitrust. (Trump’s appointee to head antitrust at the DOJ is still awaiting confirmation.)
Consequently, the DOJ mentioned it hasn’t altered any of its “core elements” from its original proposal which includes divesting Chrome and banning search-related payments to distribution partners.
Regarding AI investments, the DOJ indicated it’s no longer pursuing “the mandatory divestiture of Google’s AI holdings” and may instead be satisfied with “prior notification for future investments.” It also noted that rather than allowing Google to divest Android now, this could leave a future decision up to judicial review depending on whether competition increases.
This proposal comes after antitrust lawsuits filed by both the DOJ and 38 state attorneys general led Judge Amit P. Mehta to determine that Google acted unlawfully to maintain a monopoly over online search. Google has stated it plans to appeal mehta’s ruling but in the meantime proposed an alternative plan that they claim would address his concerns by providing partners with greater adaptability.
< pclass= 'wp - block - paragraph' >< a rel = 'nofollow' href = ' https : // www . reuters . com / technology / us - drops - bid - make - google - sell - ai - investments - antitrust-case -2025-03-07 / '> A spokesperson for Google told Reuters that &ldquo ;the sweeping proposals from DOJ go far beyond what was decided by Court ,potentially harming American consumers ,economy ,and national security.&rdquo ;< / p >< divclass= "marfeel-experience-inline-cta wp-block-tc23-marfeel-experience "> < pclass= "wp block paragraph "> Mehta is setto hear arguments from both parties—GoogleandtheDOJ—inApril.< / p >< / div>< br >< ahref= " https : // techcrunch .com / 2025 /03 /08/new-doj-proposal-still-calls-for-google-to-divest-chrome-but-allows-for-ai-investments/"class= "button purchase "rel =" nofollow noopener "target="_blank "> Discover More< / a >
