The United States government is considering breaking up Google, one of the largest tech companies in the world. This is a measure that has not been seen in almost four decades since the dismantling of AT&T in 1982 due to its US monopoly.
On Tuesday, October 8th, The United States Department of justice said it recommended dismantling Google’s core businesses through a court filing. This essentially means it would break up Google’s search business from Android, Chrome, and the Google Play Store.
Google allegedly violated US antitrust laws
In its court filing, the United States government said that breaking up Google “would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features—including emerging search access points and features, such as artificial intelligence—over rivals or new entrants.”
The ruling that was made public in August, and which determined Google had violated US antitrust laws with its search business, is very significant. The judge who made the ruling called Google a “monopolist” and has now kicked off a process that promises to change the future of tech companies in the United States.
In the wake of the US government’s recommendation to break up the tech giants, Google has defended itself. Through a blog post, the company said the government’s recommendations are radical and argued they could actually worsen customer experience.
Google says being broken up could break Android and Chrome, and delay AI innovation
In the blog post, Google said, “This case is about a set of search distribution contracts. Rather than focus on that, the government seems to be pursuing a sweeping agenda that will impact numerous industries and products, with significant unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and American competitiveness.”
The company also argued that breaking up Google could force the company to share personal information with competitors, which would undermine user privacy.
During the hearings, the US government argued Google employed various tactics that allowed their products to shut out competitors in searches, thereby acting as a monopoly by not allowing customers choices when it comes to search engines.
The case largely focused on contracts with other tech giants such as Apple on which Google had spent billions of dollars in an aim to become the default search provider on smartphones. Judge Amit Mehta ruled these contracts were anticompetitive.
Google representatives appealed Judge Mehta’s ruling and repeated the argument they had put forth in the courtroom maintaining that their search engine is the most popular not due to unlawful practices but because of its efficiency. Now, Google faces yet another case against the Department of Justice and 17 states, which have alleged Google ads are also anti-competitive.