By Jody Godoy
(Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday dropped a proposal to force Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Google to sell its investments in artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI competitor Anthropic, to boost competition in online search.
The DOJ and a coalition of 38 state attorneys general still seek a court order requiring Google to sell its Chrome browser and take other measures aimed at addressing what a judge said was Google’s illegal search monopoly, according to court papers filed in Washington.
"The American dream is about higher values than just cheap goods and ’free’ online services. These values include freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom to innovate, and freedom to compete in a market undistorted by the controlling hand of a monopolist," prosecutors wrote.
A spokesperson for Google said the "sweeping proposals continue to go miles beyond the Court’s decision, and would harm America’s consumers, economy and national security."
A spokesperson for Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
President Donald Trump has said he would continue a crackdown on Big Tech, which began during his first term and continued into former President Joe Biden’s administration. Trump has tapped veteran antitrust attorney Gail Slater to lead the DOJ’s efforts.
Google holds a minority stake worth billions of dollars in Anthropic. Losing the investment would hand a competitive advantage to OpenAI and its partner Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Anthropic wrote to the court in February.
Evidence prosecutors obtained since making their draft recommendation in November showed a risk that banning Google from AI investments "could cause unintended consequences in the evolving AI space," they said in the final proposal on Friday. They asked that Google be required to give prior notice to the government about future investments in generative AI.
Google, which has said it will appeal, has made its own proposal that would loosen agreements with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and others to set Google as the default search engine on new devices. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta has scheduled a trial on the proposals for April.
The blockbuster case is one of several U.S. antitrust cases against Big Tech companies. Apple, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) also face allegations of maintaining illegal monopolies in their respective markets.
Since Trump’s reelection, Google has sought to make the case that the DOJ’s approach in the case would hobble the company’s ability to compete in AI and "jeopardize America’s global economic and technological leadership."
Many of the measures prosecutors proposed in November remain intact with a few tweaks.
For example, a requirement that Google share search query data with competitors now says that Google can charge a marginal fee for access and that the competitors must not pose a national security risk.
The proposal drew statements of support from Democratic and Republican attorneys general as well as the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA.