US competition lawsuit: Google argues with national security

Last year, a judge in the USA expressly stated that Google is a monopolist and violates competition law. The antitrust proceedings that the USA is conducting against Google have not yet been concluded. There is a threat of the group being split up. The aim is to prevent Google from continuing to use its market power to the benefit of its own services. For example, Google's search engine is set as the default search engine on many devices. Google is now arguing that a split would jeopardize national security.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Google lawyers are said to have met with representatives of the new US Justice Department. This is under the authority of Donald Trump, from whom the executives of big tech companies are hoping for as little regulation as possible. They said that splitting off Chrome and reducing investment in AI would jeopardize both national security and that of individual users. Chrome is by far the most widely used browser in the USA and also in this country. Google had already voiced these concerns before.

However, they are now falling on the ears of a Department of Justice that has already been partially rebuilt, writes Arstechnica. "Since taking office, the new administration has routinely criticized the harsh treatment of US tech giants, taking aim at European Union laws like the Digital Markets Act, which is meant to ensure data privacy and competition between so-called 'gatekeeper' tech companies like Google."

AI is taken up again in the lawsuit

Investments in AI are affected by the lawsuit to the extent that the judge already said in November that AI will change the search engine market –, which is why he wants to hear as much as possible about it. The hearings will continue in April. Google has already written in a public statement that AI has already significantly changed the search engine market and allows for more competition. According to Google, the Justice Department's current proposal also harms consumers and "undermines US global technology leadership". For example, Google would be forced to "share people's private search queries with foreign and domestic competitors."

(emw)