Google says it won’t bind Gemini to its partners in proposed antitrust remedy

If Google’s Gemini Assistant AI generative chatbot wants 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 front and center in people’s lives. of the Americans.

In a US federal government court appearance on fridayGoogle proposed a series of restrictions that for three years would prevent the company from requiring its device maker licensees, browsers and wireless service providers to distribute Gemini to its US users. Google would also give those partners more flexibility in setting their default search provider for their users.

Google’s proposal counters last month’s call from the U.S. Department of Justice for Google to not only loosen its grip on its partners but also share more data with competitors and divest its Chrome browser business. The company on Friday. formally rejected the idea of ​​selling any part of your business or giving more information to your rivals. And the proposed restrictions could be interpreted as stricter than those sought by the government.

The battle follows a ruling last August by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., who found that Google violated federal antitrust laws through deals it struck to be the default search provider on iOS and other software, a often in exchange for sharing advertising revenue with partners. Mehta found that default agreements helped Google gain and retain users, giving it monopolies in both search and search ads. The search giant was able to increase ad prices without restriction, driving “dramatic revenue growth” and “remarkably stable operating profits,” Mehta wrote in his ruling.

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

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

But even after Mehta’s next ruling, appeals are expected to follow. It could be years before restrictions on Google take effect. That 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 track for their eighth-best annual gain since going public 20 years ago.

Domain transfer

During this year’s test, Google attributed its dominance in search to developing an experience loved by users. The Justice Department argued that users are left with default settings on their phones and browsers, often Google. The company’s proposal on Friday underscored that Google doesn’t want to lose those defaults entirely. It would, for example, allow Google to ensure default search status on some Samsung phone models in the US, while temporarily suspending the requirement that everyone do so.

Google could also reach agreements 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 search, Chrome or the Google Play app store. And it couldn’t stop partners from also working with rival AI companies like OpenAI.