The Department of Justice has recommended to a federal judge that Google sell its Chrome browser business as part of its ongoing search monopoly case. In a filing to the DC District Court late Wednesday, the DOJ outlined its proposals for leveling the playing field in search, which include Google spinning out its Chrome browser, among other recommendations.
Google responded to the filing with a lengthy blog post in which it described the proposal as "staggering."
This comes three months after a judge ruled that Google, owned by Alphabet, violated antitrust law by illegally maintaining a monopoly in search. By ensuring its own search engine is the default choice on devices, Google is denying rival search engines the opportunity to compete, and therefore denying people the ability to experience alternatives, the decision said.
As the DOJ sees it, the sale of Chrome is one step that Google can take to restore competition in online search. The agency also wants Mehta to curtail the agreements Google has with other companies to favor its search engine on phones, such as its longstanding deals with Apple and Samsung.
Beyond that, the DOJ asked that Mehta tell Google to either sell off its Android phone operating system or stop requiring preferential treatment for its services on Android phones. Its proposed remedies also include prohibiting Google from owning a stake in rival query-based AI products -- that is, generative AI chatbots.
"The promise of new technologies, including advances in artificial intelligence ('AI'), may present an opportunity for fresh competition. But only a comprehensive set of remedies can thaw the ecosystem and finally reverse years of anticompetitive effects," the government said in its filing Wednesday.
In its blog post, Google outlined remedies it would prefer -- namely search distribution agreements with other major tech companies.
"Instead, DOJ chose to push a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America's global technology leadership," wrote Kent Walker, Google's president of global affairs and chief legal officer. "DOJ's wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision. It would break a range of Google products -- even beyond Search -- that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives."
The next steps for the case will involve a two-week remedies trial next April. It will be the job of Judge Amit Mehta, who made the initial antitrust ruling, to establish how best to make the search market more competitive, taking into account the DOJ's recommendations.
Google is just one of several big tech companies in the US dealing with antitrust complaints. Apple and Amazon have each been sued for monopolistic or anticompetitive behavior. With the appointment of a new Federal Communications Commission chair who has vowed to go after tech companies, there may be more action against Big Tech, particularly social media services, in 2025.