INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The great Google spinoffWhile Google certainly doesn't want to lose Chrome, there may be a more fundamental threat to its business in the
The DOJ argued that Google's illegal monopoly has given it an insurmountable technology lead, but a collection of data remedies could
Under the DOJ proposal, Google would have to license some of its core search technology, including the search index and ranking
algorithm.Google CEO Sundar Pichai gave testimony at the trial and cited these data remedies as no better than a spinoff of Google search
Google's previous statements have referred to this derisively as "white labeling" Google search
Pichai claimed these remedies could force Google to reevaluate the amount it spends on research going forward, slowing progress in search
for it and all the theoretical licensees.Currently, there is no official API for syndicating Google's search results
There are scrapers that aim to offer that service, but that's a gray area, to say the least
Google has even rejected lucrative deals to share its index
Turley noted in his testimony that OpenAI approached Google to license the index for ChatGPT, but Google decided the deal could harm its
search dominance, which was more important than a short-term payday.AI advancesInitially, the DOJ wanted to force Google to stop investing
in AI firms, fearing its influence could reduce competition as it gained control or acquired these startups
The government has backed away from this remedy, but AI is still core to the search trial
That seemed to surprise Judge Mehta.During Pichai's testimony, Mehta remarked that the status of AI had shifted considerably since the
liability phase of the trial in 2023
"The consistent testimony from the witnesses was that the integration of AI and search or the impact of AI on search was years away," Mehta
Things are very different now, Mehta noted, with multiple competitors to Google in AI search
This may actually help Google's case.
