The government finally evolves to break the monopoly of Google’s research – just as the real battle has moved to artificial intelligence.
In a Washington courtroom, the Ministry of Justice presents its file to dismantle parts of the Google Empire, the culmination of antitrust legal action filed in 2020. But in the years following the initial complaint focused on the domination of search engines, the technological landscape has transformedly transformed. What started as a case on Google’s grip on research is now to prevent the technology giant from taking advantage of this position to control the next border: AI.
“The appeal of this court should be turned forward and not to ignore what is on the horizon”, David Dahlquist, interim deputy director of the DOJ of the Civil Litch Antitrust, said in his declaration of opening. The argument stressed that regulators fear that they are fighting yesterday, even if a new one takes place.
The authorities intend to seek a range of other remedies discussed in a legal file last monthIncluding the imposition of data license requirements and requiring greater transparency for advertisers in the place where their announcements appear. The DOJ should also require “measures related to artificial intelligence and its operating system for Android smartphones” which would probably prevent Google from theauser data for search results and AI products. This could open the way for more users to opt for their content outside the AI training.
Bloomberg reports that in addition to prohibiting Google’s exclusive default transactions, the government could Force Google for sale ChromeThe most popular browser in the world.
Technological competitors quickly positioned themselves for the potential consequences. An Openai leader said the company would be Interested in buying chromeOffering the company an easy path to the creation of an “A-SI-ST” navigation experience which could transform how users browse the web.
Openai is not alone. Perplexity, an AI company barely three years old, has entered the chrome conversation. Even Yahoo, a former internet giant seeking relevance again, would have shown his interest in acquiring Chrome, adding another layer to competition.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has set up a vigorous defense against the government. Speaking the Federal Court on Wednesday, Pichai warned that the Doj’s proposal to force Google to share its research data would be equivalent to a “de facto divestment” of the company’s search engine, which has taken decades of investment to build.
“AI is one of the deepest technologies that humans will ever work,” Pichai said to courtStressing that Google has invested around $ 49 billion in IA research and development. He described the government’s requests “so far, so extraordinary” that they effectively ask Google to give its main intellectual property.
Questioned by judge Mehta How AI could transform research in the years to come, Pichai has recognized that AI will “transform deeply” Google seeks “very deep”. However, he argued that competition in AI remains fierce, stressing what he called a “big gap” between the Gemini of Google and the market leader Chatgpt.
However, the testimony of the court revealed that Google already reproduced its research book in the field of AI, Pay substantial sums of Samsung To make Gemini the AI assistant by default on his devices – a strategy remarkably similar to what triggered his current legal problems.
Government theory is simple: Google has created a self-reproductive cycle where its research control helps improve its AI products, which in turn returns more users to Google Search, maintaining the domination of the company and blocking competitors on the two markets.
At the heart of this argument is the data – in particular, the Google massive research index, containing hundreds of billions of websites on more than 100 million gigabytes, according to court documents. This vast draft of information gives Google an immense advantage in the formation of AI models, a point that the DOJ hammered at home by calling for leaders of competing AI companies to testify.
For media companies and publishers, the implications are important. Unlike Openai, Microsoft and Meta, Google has generally avoided paying editors for the content used by its AI systems. The exception is redditwhich would receive $ 60 million per year to access its content generated by the user.
“It would be the worst of the two worlds,” Pete Pachal, an industry analyst, said in its substitutionWarning of an IA future dominated by Google. “No license verification and no search references, because user requests never leave the chatbox on the devices.”
Google denies that it could monopolize AI, indicating strong competition in space. The internal documents presented to the court showed that while Gemini has reached 35 million daily active users In March, he still follows what he estimates is the 160 million daily chatgpt users.
Irony is not lost for industry veterans: Google itself has taken importance following the original wars of the 1990s, when Microsoft’s Internet explorer was confronted with antitrust action. This intervention has created a space for innovation, allowing arrivals like Google to flourish in a more open internet ecosystem.
Now Google is as a monopoly, while a new generation of IA companies hopes that regulatory action will give them the same opportunity as Google once had the possibility of competing on a playground.
—Jackie Snow, contributory publisher
