Alphabet’s Chrome browser could fetch a price tag of up to $20 billion if a judge accepts a Justice Department proposal to sell the business, in what would be a historic offensive against one of the largest technology companies in the world.
The department will ask the judge, who ruled in August that Google illegally monopolized the search market, requiring measures related to artificial intelligence and its operating system for Android smartphones, according to people familiar with the plans.
If the sale goes through, Chrome would be worth “at least between US$15,000 and US$20,000 million, given that it has more than 3,000 million monthly active users”said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh.
Antitrust officials, along with states that have joined the case, They also plan to recommend Wednesday that federal Judge Amit Mehta impose data licensing requirements, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.
If Mehta accepts the proposals, they have the potential to transform the online search market and the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry. The case was filed during the first Trump administration and continued under President Joe Biden.
It marks the most aggressive effort to control a technology company since Washington tried unsuccessfully to break up Microsoft two decades ago.
Owning the world’s most popular web browser is key to Google’s ads business. The company can see the activity of logged-in users and use that data to more effectively target promotions, which generate the majority of its revenue.
Google has also been using Chrome to direct users to its flagship AI product, Gemini.which has the potential to evolve from a response bot to an assistant that follows users around the web.
Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said the Justice Department “continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues of this case.”
He added that “if the government puts its finger on the scale in this way, it would harm consumers, developers and American technological leadership precisely at a time when it is needed most.”. The Justice Department declined to comment.
Alphabet shares were trading virtually unchanged at market open Tuesday in New York. They had closed at US$176.80 and have gained 25% this year.
Chrome Access
Antitrust agencies want the judge to order Google to sell Chrome because, being the most used browser in the world, It represents a key access point through which many people use their search engine, the people said.
The government has the option to decide whether the sale of Chrome is necessary at a later date if some of the other aspects of the solution do not create a more competitive market, the sources added. The Chrome browser controls about 61% of the market in the United States, according to StatCounter, a web traffic analysis service.
Government lawyers met with dozens of companies over the past three months as they prepared the recommendation. States are still considering adding some proposals and some details could change, the people said.
Antitrust officials ruled out an option harsher that would have forced Google to sell Android, the people said. Alphabet’s Google Prepares for Antitrust Mess: Legal Outlook
The benefit of Chrome, for which Google does not charge directly, lies partly in the convenience it offers users, making their experience with Google products more seamless.said Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, on Cnbc. “Breaking up these companies is not going to fundamentally solve the problem they have.”
Google said in a blog post that if other companies owned Chrome, They wouldn’t have the incentive to invest as much in it or keep it free, and they would probably have to change their business model.
Google Call
Mehta’s August ruling, which found that Google had violated antitrust laws in both the online search and search text ad marketscame after a ten-week trial last year. The company has said it plans to appeal.
The judge has set a two-week hearing in April on what changes Google should make to remedy the illegal behavior and plans to issue a final ruling in August 2025.
The agency and states have agreed to recommend that Google be required to license the results and data from its popular search engine and give websites more options to prevent their content from being used by Google’s artificial intelligence products, people said.
Antitrust authorities are set to propose that Google decouple its Android smartphone operating system from its other products, including the search engine and its Google Play mobile app store, which are now sold as a package, the people said.
They are also willing to request that Google share more information with advertisers and give them more control over where their ads appear.
Lawyers for the Justice Department and state attorneys general included all of those options in an initial filing in October, as well as a ban on the type of exclusive contracts that were at the center of the case against Google.
A forced spin-off, if it occurs, would also depend on finding an interested buyer. Those who could afford and might want the property, such as Amazon.com, They also face the antitrust scrutiny that can prevent such an operation.
“My view is that this is extremely unlikely,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh said in an email. But, he added, it could see a buyer like OpenAI, the maker of the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT. “That would give it distribution and an advertising business to complement its consumer chatbot subscriptions.”
According to Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, digital advertising and media analyst at Emarketer, a merger with an American artificial intelligence company can more easily pass government scrutiny than with another tech giant.
“It could be approved by the government as a way to prioritize innovation in artificial intelligence and the American position on artificial intelligence on the global stage.”
General AI Reviews
Google now displays AI-powered answers at the top of its search pages, called “AI Overview.”
While websites can choose not to allow Google to use their information to create AI models, They can’t afford to opt out of allowing Google to use summaries, as that could cause them to rank lower in search results, which would make it difficult to reach your customers.
Website publishers have complained that the feature reduces traffic and advertising dollars, since users rarely click to see the data used to drive those results.
Regarding data licenses, antitrust agencies plan to propose two options: Google will sell the underlying “clicks and queries” data and also separately syndicate its search results, according to the people.
Currently, the company sells syndicated search results, but with restrictions, such as preventing its use on mobile devices.
Forcing Google to syndicate its search results would allow rival search engines and AI startups to quickly improve their quality, while providing data would allow others to create their own search index.
