AP Technology Writers Michael Liedtke and Alan Suderman
WASHINGTON (AP) – Google faces an existential threat as the US government is trying to split the company as punishment for turning its innovative search engine into an illegal monopoly.
The drama began to unfold Monday in court in Washington. A three-week hearing began and decided whether the company should be punished to run the monopoly in search. In the opening discussion, the federal antitrust enforcer also urged the court to impose forward-looking remedies to prevent Google from using artificial intelligence to promote its advantage.
“This is a moment. We are at the inflection point. Will we abandon the search market, abandon them to control the monopolies, or will we win the competition and give future generations a choice,” said David Dalkist, a lawyer with the Department of Justice.
The minutes, known in legal terms as “relief hearings,” are set to feature a parade of witnesses, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
The U.S. Department of Justice is asking federal judges to order a radical shake-up that bans Google from conflicts with other tech companies that protect billions of dollars in transactions with Apple and other tech companies from competition.
Google’s lawyer John Schmidtlein said in his opening statement that the court should take a lighter touch. He said the government’s forced proposed relief package would not boost competition, but instead unfairly reward fewer rivals with inferior technology.
“Google has achieved that position at Market Fair and Square,” Schmiddlein said.
A moment of calculation comes four and a half years after the Justice Department filed a landmark lawsuit claiming Google’s search engine had abused its power as the internet’s main gateway to curb competition and innovation for over a decade.
After the case finally went to trial in 2023, a federal judge last year determined that Google had engaged in an anti-competitive deal to lock search engines as the go-to place for digital information on iPhones, personal computers and other widely used devices, including devices running on their own Android software.
That landmark ruling by US District Judge Amit Mehta set up a high-stakes drama that determines the penalty for Google’s fraud in the search market, which has been defined since Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded the company in Silicon Valley Garage in 1998.
Since its strict start, Google has expanded far beyond search, becoming a powerhouse of email, digital mapping, online video, web browsing, smartphone software and data centers.
Taking a victory in a search case, the Department of Justice is now set up to prove that it must take radical steps to curb Google and its company parent, Alphabet Inc.
“Google’s illegal activities have created economic behavior, something that will wreak havoc on the market to ensure that no matter what happens, whatever happens – always win,” the Justice Department argued in a document outlined the proposed penalties. “Americans are therefore forced to accept the unlimited demands of the economy and changing ideological preferences in return for the public to enjoy, in return for search engines.”
The proposed penalties were originally made under President Joe Biden’s term, but they are still accepted by the Justice Department under President Donald Trump. Since the change in administration, the Justice Department has also sought to cast Google’s immeasurable power as a threat to freedom.
In his opening statement, the Dalquist pointed out that the top Justice Department official was in the room to view the minutes. He said their presence showed that the incident had full support from federal antitrust regulators, both in the past and present.
“The fact that this case was filed in 2020 and attempted under two different administrations in 2023, with 49 states participating, demonstrating the nonpartisan nature of this case and our proposed relief,” Dahlquist said.
Dahlquist also said that Mehta has heard a lot about AI – “probably more than your honor, more than your honor” – and said that top executives of AI companies like ChatGpt will be called to testify. He said the court’s remedies should include provisions to ensure that Google’s AI product Gemini is not used to strengthen existing search monopolies.
“We believe that if Google is not included, Google will try to avoid court remedies,” Dahlquist said. “Gen AI is Google’s next evolution to spin the vicious cycle.”
Google’s lawyer Schmidtlein said rival AI companies have been experiencing significant growth in recent years and are doing something “good.”
Google has also warned about the proposed requirements for sharing online search data with rivals, as well as the proposed sales of Chrome, which poses privacy and security risks. “The width and depth of proposed remedies risks significant damage to the complex ecosystem. Some of the proposed remedies put browser developers at risk and put digital security for millions of consumers.”
Google’s showdown against fate marks the climax of the largest antitrust case in the United States, as the Justice Department sued Microsoft in the late 1990s for leveraging Windows software to crush potential rivals.
The Microsoft fight led to a federal judge who declared the company an illegal monopoly and ordered partial farewell. This is a remedy that was ultimately overturned by the Court of Appeal.
Google intends to file an appeal for Mehta’s ruling from last year that it branded its search engine as an illegal monopoly but cannot do so until the relief hearing is complete. After the discussion was finished in late May, Mehta plans to decide on a relief package before Labor Day.
The search case marked the first in a string of consecutive antitrust cases from high-tech giants, including the parent meta platforms for Facebook and Instagram. Other antitrust laws are also brought to both Apple and Amazon.
The Justice Department also targeted Google’s digital ad network last week in the decision of another federal judge who discovered the company was abusing its power in its markets. That ruling means Google heads for another Remedy Hearing.
Liedtke reported from San Francisco.
Original issue: April 21, 2025 12:05pm EDT
