If Google’s generative A.I Gemini assistant If the chatbot is to surpass OpenAI’s ChatGPT in popularity in the coming years, it may have to do so without some of the promotional partnerships that helped propel Google search and put it at the center of Americans’ lives.
In an American federal Court filed on FridayGoogle has proposed a series of restrictions that would bar the company from requiring its device makers, browser and wireless carrier licensees to distribute Gemini to its US users for three years. Google will also give those partners more flexibility in how they set their default search provider for their users.
Google’s proposal counters a call by the US Justice Department last month for Google to not only loosen its grip on partners, but also share more data with competitors and Divest its Chrome browser business. The company on Friday Formally rejected Consideration of selling any part of your business or providing other information to competitors. And its proposed sanctions may be considered less restrictive than those sought by the government.
The fight took place last August in Washington, DC. It follows a decision by US District Judge Amit Mehta, who found that Google has violated federal antitrust laws It has become the default search provider on iOS and other software through deals that are often in exchange for sharing ad revenue with partners. Mehta found that default arrangements helped Google capture and hold onto users, giving it a monopoly in both search and search advertising. The search giant was able to increase ad prices without disruption, driving “dramatic revenue growth” and “remarkably stable operating profits,” Mehta wrote in his ruling.
Now Mehta will have to decide what penalties Google will face. He has scheduled a hearing to begin in April and is expected to issue his decision by next August.
The rise of ChatGPT, Gemini, and similar chatbots as competitors to traditional search engines has led to court action. The Justice Department and several state attorneys general involved in the case want to make sure Google isn’t able to shift its dominance of old-school search into this emerging field.
But even after Mehta’s impending verdict, appeals are expected to follow. Any ban on Google could take years to take effect. That has left investors bullish about the prospects for Google and its parent company, Alphabet. The group’s shares have risen more than 37 percent in 2024, the eighth-best annual gain since going public 20 years ago.
Dominance transfer
During this year’s trial, Google attributed its dominance in search to developing an experience loved by users. The Justice Department argued that consumers stick to defaulting to their phones and browsers — often Google. The company’s proposal on Friday emphasized that Google doesn’t want to lose those defaults entirely. This would, for example, allow Google to preserve the default search position on some Samsung phone models in the US while temporarily suspending the need to do so on all of them.
Google may still reach deals to promote Gemini. Nothing in Google’s proposal would prevent it from paying Samsung to promote Gemini on all of its devices. But under the proposed restrictions, Google would not be able to require partners to promote Gemini as a condition of being able to distribute it to Google Search, Chrome, or the Google Play app store. And it won’t even be able to prevent partners from working with rival AI companies like OpenAI.
