Google CEO Sundar Pichai cautioned that the US Department of Justice’s antitrust remedies could jeopardize Google Search, potentially leading the company to discontinue its flagship product. Pichai argued that the DOJ’s proposal to share Google’s search index with competitors at minimal cost would stifle innovation.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai warned that the US Department of Justice ‘s proposed antitrust remedies could make Google Search unviable, potentially forcing the company to reconsider its flagship product. During testimony in the remedies phase of Google’s search antitrust trial, Pichai called the government’s plan “far-reaching” and “extraordinary.”
“It might be hard to justify continuing to build a search engine at all,” Pichai testified, describing the DOJ’s demands as a “de facto divestiture of search.”
At issue is the government’s proposal requiring Google to share its search index and technology with competitors at “marginal cost” – a move Pichai claims would destroy Google’s competitive advantage and innovation incentives.
Pichai says data sharing “would be a disaster”
The DOJ argues that Google’s search monopoly is maintained through an unfair advantage in data collection and technology, which only radical intervention can correct. Their proposal would force Google to license its search data to competitors, essentially allowing them to create search products with Google’s technology.
Pichai appeared visibly distressed about this prospect, saying it “would allow anyone to completely reverse engineer, end to end, any part of our technology stack.”
Google spent approximately $49 billion on research and development last year alone, according to testimony. Pichai questioned how the company could continue such investments if required to share the results at minimal cost.
“It’s not clear to me how to fund all the innovation we do if we were to give all of it away at marginal cost,” he stated.
Google’s Chrome and Apple deals also at stake
The testimony also addressed other key remedies proposed by the DOJ, including forcing Google to sell its Chrome browser . Pichai, who led the team that created Chrome before becoming CEO, defended Google’s stewardship of the browser.
“No one has shown a commitment to the level of investment we put in,” Pichai said, noting that Google spent over a billion dollars on Chrome just last year.
He also confirmed that Google is negotiating with Apple to include its Gemini AI as one of multiple options in Apple Intelligence by “the middle of this year,” representing the kind of non-exclusive deal that Google argues should be permitted.
The judge is expected to rule on remedies in August, with Google already planning to appeal the underlying antitrust verdict.
End of Article
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