The Justice Department on Friday dropped its proposal to force Alphabet's Google to invest in artificial intelligence companies, including Openai's competitor, humanity, to boost online search competition.
According to court documents filed in Washington, a coalition of 38 state attorney generals is seeking a court order requiring Google to sell its Chrome browser and take other measures aimed at what it said was Google's illegal search monopoly.
A Google and Anthropic spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Google holds billions of dollars worth of minority stakes in humanity. Losing investment would pass a competitive advantage to Openai and its partner Microsoft, whom humanity wrote to the court in February.
DOJ first made its draft recommendations in November. Prosecutors then continued to seek evidence from Google's competitors and AI companies. The evidence cited the risk that banning Google from AI investments could “provoke unintended consequences for the evolving AI space,” prosecutors said in their final proposal Friday.
They asked that Google should notify the government in advance of future investments in outbreak AI.
Google says it will appeal, but it has made its own proposal to loosen its contracts with Apple and others to set Google as the default search engine for new devices. US District Judge Amit Metah is scheduled for a trial over the proposal in April.
The blockbuster lawsuit brought during President Trump's first term began cracking down on major high-tech companies that had expanded into former President Joe Biden's administration. Apple, Meta Platforms and Amazon are also facing allegations that they maintain illegal monopolies in their respective markets.
Since Trump's reelection, Google has sought to argue that DOJ's approach in the case would hinder the company's ability to compete in AI and “put America's global economic and technical leadership at risk.”
Many of the prosecutors proposed in November remained intact after some tweaks.
The requirement for Google to share search query data with competitors says that Google can charge the cost of access and that competitors do not pose national security risks.
