New DOJ proposal still calls for Google to divest Chrome, but allows for AI investments

The US Department of Justice is still calling for Google to sell its web browser Chrome, according to a Friday court filing. The DOJ first proposed that Google should sell Chrome last year, under then-President Joe Biden, but it seems to be sticking with that plan under the second Trump administration. The department is, however, no longer calling for the company to divest all its investments in artificial intelligence, including the billions Google has poured into Anthropic. “Google’s illegal conduct has created an economic goliath, one that wreaks havoc over the marketplace to ensure that — no matter what occurs — Google always wins,” the DOJ said in a filing signed by Omeed Assefi, its current acting attorney general for antitrust. (Trump’s nominee to lead antitrust for the DOJ still awaits confirmation.) For that reason, the DOJ said it hasn’t changed the “core components” of its initial proposal, including the divestment of Chrome and a prohibition on search-related payments t ... Read full article.