The Justice Department has doubled down on its demand to break up Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, pushing for the sale of Chrome and restrictions on its search business.
What Happened: In a court filing on Friday, the Justice Department reaffirmed its call for Google to divest Chrome and end its exclusive search engine deals with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Mozilla, and smartphone manufacturers.
“Google’s illegal conduct has created an economic goliath, one that wreaks havoc over the marketplace to ensure that—no matter what occurs—Google always wins,” the filing stated.
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The push follows a landmark ruling by Judge Amit P. Mehta last year, which found that Google illegally maintained a monopoly by paying billions to remain the default search engine on popular browsers and devices.
Google, which has appealed the ruling, argued that its search dominance is due to superior technology rather than anticompetitive behavior.
Judge Mehta will preside over a two-week hearing in April to determine how Google must comply with the ruling—potentially reshaping the future of Big Tech regulation.
Why It’s Important: The Justice Department’s decision to stand by its proposal to fundamentally reshape the operations of a $2 trillion company marks one of the first clear indications of how the new administration may approach tech regulation.
The proposed remedies—among the most significant in a tech monopoly case since the DOJ sought to break up Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in 2000—could offer insight into how President Donald Trump’s appointees will handle a series of high-stakes antitrust battles against Silicon Valley’s biggest players, reported the New York Times.
The Justice Department has already taken legal action against Google over its dominance in digital advertising, with a ruling still pending.
It has also filed a lawsuit against Apple, arguing that the company’s tightly integrated ecosystem makes it difficult for consumers to switch to rival products.
Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission is preparing to take Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) to trial in April, alleging that its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp stifled competition.
The agency has also sued Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), accusing the e-commerce giant of illegally maintaining its dominance in online retail.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Alphabet’s Class A shares edged down 0.086% in after-hours trading to $173.71, while Class C shares slipped 0.023% to $175.71. Earlier, during Friday’s regular trading session, Class A shares closed 0.88% higher at $173.86, with Class C shares also gaining 0.88% to reach $175.75, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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