US government lawyers urged a federal judge on Monday to make Google spin off its Chrome browser, arguing artificial intelligence is poised to ramp up the tech giant’s online search dominance.
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) made its pitch at a hearing before District Judge Amit Mehta, who is considering “remedies” after making a landmark decision last year that Google maintained an illegal monopoly in online search.
“Nothing less than the future of the internet is at stake here,” Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater said before the start of the hearing in Washington.
“If Google’s conduct is not remedied, it will control much of the internet for the next decade and not just in internet search, but in new technologies like artificial intelligence.”
Google is among the tech companies investing heavily to be among the leader in AI, and is weaving the technology into search and other online offerings.
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Google countered in the case that the United States has gone way beyond the scope of the suit by recommending a spin-off of its widely used Chrome, and holding open the option to force a sale of its Android mobile operating system.