Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressed dismay on Wednesday over the Department of Justice's proposed remedies in the company's antitrust case, warning that they could effectively kill Google Search and compromise user privacy.
Testifying during the remedies phase of Google's search antitrust trial, Pichai described the government's plan as "so far-reaching, so extraordinary" that it would allow competitors to "completely reverse engineer, end to end, any part of our technology stack."
DOJ demands would devalue Google's massive investments
The DOJ's proposal would require Google to share its search data and index with competitors at "marginal cost" and possibly force the company to sell its Chrome browser, following Judge Amit Mehta 's August ruling that Google's online search business violated U.S. antitrust law.
"It's not clear to me how to fund all the innovation we do if we were to give all of it away at marginal cost," Pichai told Google attorney John Schmidtlein. "It's not clear to me how we'd have any value for our IP if we had to share our IP at marginal cost."
Pichai particularly emphasized privacy concerns, stating, "People search in Google in their most vulnerable moments, and there seems to be no privacy protections." He characterized the data-sharing proposal as feeling like "a full divestiture" of Google's years of research and development.
Chrome sale could threaten browser's future development
The Alphabet CEO also defended Google's stewardship of Chrome, noting the company spent over a billion dollars on the browser last year alone. "I haven't seen any other company come close to making the type of investments that we do," Pichai said.
During cross-examination, Pichai confirmed that Google is working on a deal to integrate its Gemini AI into Apple Intelligence by "the middle of this year," alongside existing ChatGPT integration—the kind of multi-provider arrangement Google previously resisted.
The three-week court battle could result in a massive shake-up of the $1.8 trillion tech giant if Judge Mehta imposes significant structural remedies.
Testifying during the remedies phase of Google's search antitrust trial, Pichai described the government's plan as "so far-reaching, so extraordinary" that it would allow competitors to "completely reverse engineer, end to end, any part of our technology stack."
DOJ demands would devalue Google's massive investments
The DOJ's proposal would require Google to share its search data and index with competitors at "marginal cost" and possibly force the company to sell its Chrome browser, following Judge Amit Mehta 's August ruling that Google's online search business violated U.S. antitrust law.
"It's not clear to me how to fund all the innovation we do if we were to give all of it away at marginal cost," Pichai told Google attorney John Schmidtlein. "It's not clear to me how we'd have any value for our IP if we had to share our IP at marginal cost."
Pichai particularly emphasized privacy concerns, stating, "People search in Google in their most vulnerable moments, and there seems to be no privacy protections." He characterized the data-sharing proposal as feeling like "a full divestiture" of Google's years of research and development.
Chrome sale could threaten browser's future development
The Alphabet CEO also defended Google's stewardship of Chrome, noting the company spent over a billion dollars on the browser last year alone. "I haven't seen any other company come close to making the type of investments that we do," Pichai said.
During cross-examination, Pichai confirmed that Google is working on a deal to integrate its Gemini AI into Apple Intelligence by "the middle of this year," alongside existing ChatGPT integration—the kind of multi-provider arrangement Google previously resisted.
The three-week court battle could result in a massive shake-up of the $1.8 trillion tech giant if Judge Mehta imposes significant structural remedies.
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