Google Faces Breakup Threat: U.S. Court May Force Sale of Chrome

A major antitrust battle between the U.S. government and Google has entered its final stage, with a federal judge in Washington expected to rule by August on whether the tech giant must divest its Chrome browser and share its data with competitors.

On Friday, the closing arguments concluded in the Justice Department’s case, which accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the search engine market to stifle competition and entrench its power unfairly.

At the heart of the case is the DOJ’s request to dismantle key components of Google’s market control. This includes a potential forced sale of Chrome and mandatory data sharing to allow rivals such as Microsoft and OpenAI to compete more effectively in AI-powered search technologies.

Judge Amit Mehta, who is overseeing the case, challenged both sides during the hearings with tough questions about restoring competition and the long-term implications for artificial intelligence and data access. In August 2024, he already ruled that Google had violated antitrust laws. Now, he must decide what remedies are appropriate.

The Justice Department argues that without significant intervention, Google could extend its dominance to AI search, locking in an unfair advantage that would stifle innovation. Witnesses from Microsoft and OpenAI testified that access to Google’s search data would be critical to building better alternatives.

Google, for its part, has denied wrongdoing and proposed more limited remedies that would not involve the breakup of any major products. However, antitrust experts believe that the court may now consider structural solutions.

If the judge sides with the DOJ, the ruling would mark the most significant regulatory intervention against a tech company since the Microsoft antitrust case in the late 1990s. It could also set a precedent for how governments around the world confront the growing power of digital monopolies.