The US government is threatening to destroy Google’s monopoly
The US government has threatened to break up Google to end its illegal monopoly on online searches.
In a move that sets off a major clash between Silicon Valley and Washington, US lawmakers said the tech giant could be forced into a massive shake-up.
Google’s owner Alphabet could be ordered to sell parts of its business, such as its Chrome internet browser and Android operating system.
And in a court filing this week, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said it will seek to ensure Google cannot dominate the emerging artificial intelligence sector.
But the tech giant, which plans to appeal, said the proposals were “radical” and could stifle American innovation. It comes after a judge ruled in August that Google had built an illegal monopoly in a landmark lawsuit.
Breakup: Google’s owner Alphabet could be ordered to sell parts of its business such as its Chrome internet browser and Android operating system
The Silicon Valley company has become the search engine of choice for Internet users, responsible for about 90 percent of online searches.
The U.S. government accused Alphabet of using its other products to get people to use its search engine, which it uses to make money by selling ads.
Google may be forced to stop paying companies like Apple billions of dollars to install or set up its search engine on devices.
And to prevent Google’s dominance from extending to AI, the US could push Google to share its indexes, data and models with rivals.
“It would be a huge change in the way people and businesses use and interact with the Internet in their lives, so this is clearly a high-stakes poker game,” said Ben Barringer, equity research analyst at Quilter.
“Not much changes for now, and this will undermine investor enthusiasm for Alphabet this year and most of next year until more is known.
‘This will be a long process, with a lot of negotiation to be done. However, the DoJ has fired a shot across Alphabet’s bow.”
Google said the proposals “go far beyond the specific legal issues in this case.”
Lee-Anne Mulholland, vice president of Regulatory Affairs at Google, said: “Government dominance in a rapidly changing industry could have negative, unintended consequences for American innovation and American consumers. We look forward to making our arguments in court.”
The company, which has a valuation of more than $2 trillion, said its search engine has won users with its quality, adding that it faces stiff competition from rivals and that there are other search engines available.
Alphabet, the world’s fourth-largest company, is under increasing legal pressure from global competitors and regulators.
In a separate case, a US judge ruled that Google must open its Play app store to more competition, including making Android apps available from competing sources.
The company is fighting another case in the US that seeks to split up its web advertising business. And the country faces similar competitive challenges in the EU.
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