Google must divest Chrome but can keep AI assets, DOJ rules

Google‘s ongoing antitrust battle has reached a pivotal moment as the Justice Department surprisingly drops its effort to force the tech giant to divest its AI investments while maintaining pressure on Google to sell Chrome. This shift highlights the DOJ’s evolving strategy in addressing Google’s market dominance while acknowledging the potential negative consequences of disrupting the rapidly developing AI landscape, especially as Google has invested heavily in AI startups like Anthropic.

The big picture: The Department of Justice has abandoned its earlier position that Google should divest from AI companies, citing potential “unintended consequences in the evolving AI space.”

• Google’s $3 billion investment in Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot, is now safe from forced divestiture.
• The DOJ’s final remedy proposal still includes significant oversight of Google’s future AI investments, requiring advance notification for review of proposed transactions.

What’s still at stake: While Google wins on AI investments, the DOJ continues to push for Chrome divestiture following Judge Amit Metha’s August ruling that Google maintains an illegal search monopoly.

• A trial to determine final remedies is scheduled for April, where Google’s ownership of the Chrome browser remains a central point of contention.
• The DOJ has also conceded that Google can continue paying Apple for services unrelated to search.

Google’s response: The company has characterized the DOJ’s proposed remedies as “extreme” and potentially harmful to user privacy and security.

• In a November blog post, Google argued that selling Chrome could expose user search queries to “unknown foreign and domestic companies.”
• Despite these objections, Google faces significant business restructuring if the court ultimately requires Chrome divestiture.

Why this matters: The DOJ’s shifting position reflects the complex challenge of regulating tech giants in rapidly evolving markets, attempting to balance antitrust enforcement with concerns about disrupting innovation in strategic sectors like artificial intelligence.