Judge Amit P. Mehta declined to order divestiture of Chrome or the Android operating system while imposing remedies to curb monopolistic practices. The 230-page ruling prohibits exclusive distribution contracts for search engines and apps and requires Google to share user interaction data and its search index with competitors. The Department of Justice and several states sued Google in 2020 for monopolizing online search, and Mehta previously found Google had violated antitrust law. Google warned that broader remedies would amount to a de facto divestiture with many unintended consequences. Business and tech leaders reacted with mixed approval and criticism, and some competitors urged congressional action.
On Tuesday, Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled that Google will not be forced to divest from Chrome and its Android operating system, after Google was found in 2024 to have illegally maintained a monopoly. In the 230-page decision, Mehta said that Google won't be allowed to have an exclusive contract regarding the distribution of its search engines and apps and that the company must share information such as user interaction data and search index with competitors.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google parent Alphabet, argued earlier this year that the Justice Department's proposed remedies were essentially a "de facto divestiture" of its search business and warned they would have "many unintended consequences." The DOJ and several states first sued Google in 2020, accusing it of monopolizing online search. Last year, US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had violated antitrust law, ruling that "Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly."
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