Goliath devastates the market: Google should sell Chrome

Representatives of the new US government under Donald Trump and Google had met several times to discuss the impending split-up of the company. Because a court has determined that Google is a monopolist and is exploiting its dominant market position, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has demanded that at least the browser business be spun off. The authority also adheres to this in the application now published – with clear words. However, investments in the AI start-up Anthropic are no longer an issue. Negotiations on the sale of the Android division have also been postponed for the time being.

Anthropic received a total of around three billion US dollars from Google. The question was whether this could give Google too much influence over the company. A similar situation arose as a result of Microsoft's investment in OpenAI. However, the accusations that Microsoft had thereby gained power over OpenAI are also off the table. The companies' ties have recently loosened, with OpenAI cooperating with Oracle on the major Stargate project, for example, and relying on their computing power instead of that provided by Microsoft.

Elon Musk's accusation against OpenAI and Microsoft is somewhat different. He is suing because the two are said to have obliged investors not to invest in competing AI start-ups. This could violate competition law.

Prosecutor finds clear words in the application

The DOJ's application states the following about Google's monopoly position: "Google's unlawful conduct has created an economic Goliath that is ravaging the market to ensure that Google – always wins no matter what – happens." Google is also referred to as "the gatekeeper" to the Internet. People relied on the service every day.

"Google's anti-competitive behavior has deprived users of a fundamental American value –: the ability to choose in the marketplace." People can no longer choose between competing services because of Google's sheer size and power. It also states that the path of a monopolist often begins with "free goods and the promise of an exciting future and ends under the control of an economic 'autocrat of commerce'". This is followed by the realization that with free products, the people themselves usually become the product.

Google, on the other hand, says the split would jeopardize national security. It would also harm the US economy and consumers.

The hearings of Google and the US judicial authority before Judge Amit Mehta will begin in April.

(emw)