By Jody Godoy
(Reuters) – Alphabet’s Google will come one step closer to a potential shakeup of its business on Wednesday, when U.S. prosecutors detail what the tech titan should do to end its online search monopoly.
The U.S. Department of Justice brought the case during Donald Trump’s first four-year term, and won a landmark ruling in August that Google maintained an illegal monopoly in online search and related advertising.
Prosecutors have floated a range of potential remedies in the case, from ending exclusive agreements in which Google pays billions of dollars annually to Apple and other companies to remain the default search engine on tablets and smartphones, to divesting parts of its business, such as its Android operating system.
The DOJ is expected to press forward with several of those proposals on Wednesday, including one that could require Google to divest its Chrome browser, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Google calls the proposal radical, and said it would harm U.S. consumers and businesses and shake American competitiveness in artificial intelligence.
Ultimately, however, Trump’s election could have the greatest impact over the case. In September, Trump said he would prosecute Google for what he perceives as bias against him. But a month later, Trump questioned whether breaking up the company was a good idea.
Once in office, Trump will be able to appoint a new head of the DOJ’s antitrust division who will have authority to change strategy, negotiate settlements, or withdraw from cases entirely. Trump has yet to announce a pick to helm the agency.
Google plans to appeal once U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta makes a final ruling, which he is likely to do by August 2025.
Google will have a chance to make its own proposal in December.
Mehta has scheduled a trial on the proposals for April. Whether Trump and the DOJ’s next antitrust head will step in and change course in the case before then remains to be seen.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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