US weighs Google break-up in historic Big Tech antitrust case

The US Justice Department may propose a forced sell-off of parts of Google’s business to prevent illegal monopolisation

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The US Justice Department is considering asking a federal judge to force Google to sell off parts of its business. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:10am, 10 Oct 2024

The US Justice Department is considering asking a federal judge to force Google to sell off parts of its business in what would be a historic break-up of one of the world’s biggest tech companies.

Antitrust enforcers are weighing a break-up to mitigate the Alphabet business’s dominance in search, the agency said in a court filing on Tuesday. Judge Amit Mehta could also order Google to provide access to the underlying data it uses to build its search results and artificial intelligence (AI) products, it said.

The Justice Department “is considering behavioural and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features”, the agency said.

The 32-page document lays out a framework of potential options for the judge to consider as the case moves to the remedy phase. The agency said it will provide a fuller proposal on remedies next month and then begin gathering additional documents and evidence from Google for a two-week remedies hearing in April. Mehta said he will rule on the remedies by August 2025.

The Google logo at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. Photo: dpa

The effort is the most significant move to rein in a major tech company over illegal monopolisation since Washington unsuccessfully sought to break up Microsoft two decades ago. The Justice Department and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have targeted Big Tech dominance, scrutinising deals and investments and accusing some of the country’s most powerful companies of illegally dominating markets.