Making the tech giant divest its popular web browser is a key part of U.S. government lawyers’ request for dealing with a judge’s finding that Google abuses its power in other fields to maintain its dominance in internet searches, Bloomberg reported. The Justice Department’s proposal is due in court tomorrow. (Bloomberg)
Talking point: Judge Amit Mehta ruled in a blockbuster case earlier this year that Google uses Chrome, its Android operating system and cash payments to other tech providers such as Apple to make the Google search engine the go-to tool for finding things on the internet—serving up Google’s profitable ads and sponsored results. Forcing a Big Tech company to carve off such a big part of itself would be unprecedented. Though some of its value is in its intimate connections with Google’s other services, Chrome’s billions of users could be worth US$20 billion to a buyer, according to a Bloomberg analyst. Mehta’s decision on a remedy isn’t likely to land until summer 2025, and Google has promised to appeal his initial ruling.