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US asks Google to sell Chrome browser: report
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US asks Google to sell Chrome browser: report

The United States will ask a judge to force Google parent Alphabet Inc to sell its widely used Chrome browser as part of a major antitrust crackdown on the internet giant, reports said Monday. the media.

Antitrust officials at the U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on a Bloomberg report that they would ask the court today for the sale of Chrome and a shake-up of other aspects of Google’s business.

Justice officials said last month they would require Google to make sweeping changes to the way it does business — even considering the possibility of a breakup — after the tech giant discovered it ran an illegal monopoly.

US asks Google to sell Chrome browser: report

Photo: AP

The government said in a court filing that it was considering options including “structural” changes, which could lead it to seek a divestment from the Android smartphone operating system or its Chrome browser.

Calling for a breakup of Google would mark a profound shift by U.S. regulators, who have largely left the tech giants alone since their failure to break up Microsoft Corp. twenty years ago.

Google then rejected the idea, calling it “radical”.

Adam Kovacevich, chief executive of industry group Chamber of Progress, issued a statement saying what justice officials would want is “fantastic” and defies legal norms, calling instead for narrowly tailored solutions.

Figuring out how to right Google’s wrongs is the next step in a landmark antitrust trial that saw the company declared a monopoly in August by U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta.

Requiring Google to make its search data available to competitors was also on the table.

Whatever Mehta ultimately decides, Google is expected to appeal the ruling, which could drag out the process for years and possibly reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

The trial, which ended last year, examined Google’s confidential deals with smartphone makers, including Apple Inc. Those deals involve substantial payments to secure Google’s search engine as a default option on browsers, iPhones and other devices.

The judge determined that this arrangement gave Google unprecedented access to user data, allowing it to grow its search engine into a globally dominant platform.

From this position, Google has expanded its technology empire to include the Chrome browser, Maps, and the Android smartphone operating system.

According to the ruling, Google controlled 90% of the US online search market in 2020, with an even higher share, 95%, on mobile devices.

Remedies sought will include imposing measures to prevent Google’s artificial intelligence from mining website data and prohibiting the Android mobile operating system from being bundled with the company’s other offerings, the report said.