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Antitrust enforcers seek to make Google sell Chrome

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DOJ concerned Google's dominance could extend to AI

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Judge likely to impose requirements on Google by August

(Adds detail from hearing in paragraphs 1-6)

By Jody Godoy

WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) -

A judge asked the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday how

much room there would be for new search engines to emerge given

the rise of artificial intelligence, as antitrust enforcers

press for Alphabet's Google to take dramatic measures

to restore competition in online search.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta is overseeing the trial

over proposals to remedy Google's

search monopoly

. If he approves the DOJ proposals, artificial intelligence

companies could get a boost after already

rattling Google's status

as the go-to tool to find information online.

Mehta asked DOJ attorney David Dahlquist during closing

arguments in Washington whether AI should be considered a way to

access search, or as a kind of competing technology.

"Do you think someone is going to come off the sidelines and

build a new general search engine in light of what we are

seeing?" Mehta asked.

Dahlquist replied that search isn't going away, and that

the DOJ's proposed remedies are designed to keep Google from

blocking AI-based competitors. A witness from OpenAI testified

in the case that the ChatGPT creator is

years away from its goal

of being able to use its own search technology to answer

80% of queries.

The DOJ and a coalition of states are pressing to make

Google sell its Chrome browser, share search data and cease

multibillion-dollar payments to Apple ( AAPL ) and other

smartphone makers and wireless carriers that set Google as the

default search engine on new devices.

Dahlquist said that the remedies are designed to pry open

markets for online search engines and related advertising as

well as restore competition that Google's conduct has

"fundamentally broken."

The trial on the proposals began in April. Mehta has said he

aims to rule on the proposals by August.

If the judge does require Google to sell off Chrome, OpenAI

would be interested in buying it, Nick Turley, OpenAI's product

head for ChatGPT, said at the trial.

OpenAI would also benefit from access to Google's search

data, which would help it make responses to user inquiries more

accurate and up to date, Turley said.

Google says the proposals go far beyond what is legally

justified by the court's ruling, and would give away its

technology to competitors. The company has already begun

loosening agreements with smartphone makers including Samsung

Electronics ( SSNLF ) to allow them to load rival search and

AI products.

The DOJ wants the judge to go farther, banning Google from

making lucrative payments in exchange for installation of its

search app.