Many of Google’s AI rivals will have been disappointed to see the tech giant escape largely unscathed from its first major antitrust battle with the U.S. government. Despite concluding Google had operated an illegal monopoly, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta did not force the company to take remedies such as spinning off its Chrome browser or to stop paying hardware vendors for prime positioning on their platform. Nor did the judge say Google must give users explicit “choice screens” that could have encouraged them to make AI rivals like ChatGPT or Perplexity their default search option.
But Mehta did order Google to undertake one measure that could be a major win for its rivals: The judge ordered the tech giant to share its search index, along with certain user data, with competitors. Appeals by Google and the Justice Department could mean it may take years for the remedy to take effect, but if it goes forward, the order could shake up the competitive landscape for AI.
