The U.S. Justice Department has put forth a sweeping proposal to force Google to sell off parts of its business, potentially leading to the first majo

US government considers historic break-up of Google in antitrust case

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2024-10-09 09:00:07

The U.S. Justice Department has put forth a sweeping proposal to force Google to sell off parts of its business, potentially leading to the first major corporate breakup in four decades and reshaping one of the world’s most valuable tech companies.

The Department of Justice and a coalition of state attorneys general on Tuesday submitted a 32-page filing (PDF) for potential remedies to address Google’s monopolies in search and search advertising.

The proposed remedies framework, submitted to U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who ruled against Google in a landmark antitrust case last August, presents a range of options including behavioral restrictions and more drastic structural measures.

The DoJ also explained some of its logic around proposed remedies and why currently smaller revenue sources, such as artificial intelligence-based tools, should also be included. Remedies, it said, “should account for alternative and future forms of monopoly maintenance,” and that they should serve to “unfetter these markets from Google’s exclusionary conduct,” remove barriers to competition, and “deny Google the fruits of its statutory violations.”

Google responded in a blog post late Tuesday, calling the Justice Department’s proposal “radical and sweeping” and warning of potential “negative unintended consequences for American innovation and America’s consumers.”