Google says it won’t force Gemini to partner in Antitrust Remedy Proposal

If Google’s generative AI Gemini Assistant chatbot is to surpass OpenAI’s ChatGPT in popularity in the coming years, it may have to do without some of the promotional partners that have helped push Google search front and center in the lives of Americans.

In a US federal court filing on FridayGoogle has proposed a series of restrictions that for three years will prevent the company from asking its device manufacturer, browser and wireless carrier licensees to distribute Gemini to its US users. Google would also give those partners more flexibility in how they set their default search provider for their users.

Google’s proposal countered last month’s call by the US Department of Justice for Google to not only loosen its grip on partners, but also share more data with competitors and give up its Chrome browser business. The company on Friday formally rejected the idea of ​​selling any part of its business or turning over more information to rivals. And his proposed restrictions could be interpreted as stricter than those sought by the government.

The battle follows a ruling last August by US District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, DC, who found that Google violated federal antitrust laws through the deal, it has been the default search provider on iOS and other software often in exchange for sharing ad revenue with partners. The default arrangements helped Google gain and retain users by giving them monopolies in both search and search ads, Mehta found. The search giant was able to raise ad prices without limit, fueling “dramatic revenue growth” and “remarkably stable operating profits,” Mehta wrote in his decision.

Now, Mehta must decide what penalties Google will face. He has scheduled hearings starting in April and is expected to release his decision by next August.

The emergence of ChatGPT, Gemini, and similar chatbots as competitors to traditional search engines have appeared on court proceedings. The Department of Justice and several state attorneys general involved in the case wanted to ensure that Google is not able to transfer its dominance in old-school search to this emerging field.

But even after Mehta’s next decision, appeals are expected to follow. It could be years before any curbs on Google go into effect. This has left investors optimistic about the prospects of Google and its parent company, Alphabet. The conglomerate’s shares have gained more than 37 percent in 2024, on pace to be its eighth best annual growth since going public 20 years ago.

Transfer of Dominance

During this year’s test, Google attributed its dominance in search to the development of an experience loved by users. The Department of Justice argued that users keep the default on their phones and browsers, often Google. The company’s proposal on Friday stressed that Google does not want to completely lose those defaults. It would allow, for example, Google to ensure the default search status in some models of Samsung phones in the United States while temporarily suspending a requirement that everyone do so.

Google could also reach deals to promote Gemini. Nothing in Google’s proposal prevents it from paying Samsung to promote Gemini on all its devices. But under the proposed restrictions, Google could not ask partners to promote Gemini as a condition to be able to distribute search, Chrome, or the Google Play app store. And it couldn’t prevent partners from working with rival AI companies like OpenAI as well.