Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)'s Google is headed to court on Monday in Washington, DC, for a major antitrust trial that could force the company to give up control of its Chrome browser and change how it handles search engine deals.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ), backed by 38 state attorneys general, has accused the company of using its size and money to block competitors and hold onto its dominance in online search.
The government alleges that Google pays billions of dollars a year to Apple, Mozilla, and others to ensure Google is the default search engine on their products, giving it an unfair advantage.
The DOJ wants to force Google to sell off Chrome, end its exclusive deals, and license search results to other platforms.
Google: our products are better
Google is contesting the claims and says its dominance is due to better products, not illegal behavior.
It argues that the DOJ’s proposals go too far and could do more harm than good, especially to partners like Mozilla that rely on Google’s funding.
The company also warns that cutting its payments to device makers could raise costs for consumers and that selling Chrome could weaken its open-source development.
The trial is expected to last around three weeks and will feature witnesses from Mozilla, Apple, Verizon, and AI companies including OpenAI and Perplexity.
This final phase of the case follows a key ruling last August, when US District Judge Amit Mehta found that Google had broken antitrust laws by maintaining a monopoly.
It also follows a court decision in Virginia last week that found Google unlawfully controlled the online advertising market.
Shares of Google's parent company Alphabet traded down 1.8% at about $148 on Monday morning.