The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is preparing to ask a federal judge to order Google to sell its Chrome browser according to a report by Bloomberg. The request stems from a recent ruling that Google unlawfully monopolized the internet search market.
Back in August, federal judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google violated antitrust laws by making exclusive contracts with companies like Apple to use its search engine as default instead of rivals like Microsoft’s Bing. This helped Google to control over 90% of the search engine market.
In its ruling, Mehta indicated that he intends to deliver punishment for Google by August 2025 and has instructed the DOJ to submit a proposal. Bloomberg reports that the DOJ intends to ask Mehta to force Google to sell Chrome, the world’s most popular internet browser, as part of the measures to curb the company’s monopoly. It will also propose a series of other moves related to artificial intelligence and the Google-created Android smartphone operating system.
If Mehta accepts DOJ’s proposal and Google complies with the request to sell Chrome, it is estimated that the browser would fetch a price of around $20 billion.
However, it appears that Google is ready to aggressively fight potential measures. Company’s executive Lee-Anne Mulholland said that they would “harm consumers, developers, and American technological leadership at precisely the moment it is most needed.”
“The DOJ continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case,” Mulholland added in a statement.