The Morning After: The Justice Department wants Google to sell off Chrome

The Justice Department said in a filing that Google will have to break up its network of myriad, overlapping businesses and services, upholding the previous administration’s proposal. The DOJ reiterated Google will have to sell the Chrome browser — saying, last year, that selling off Chrome “will permanently stop Google’s control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet.” Google is likely to file its own alternate remedies, of course. In a December filing, the company said the Justice Department’s original remedies went “overboard” and reflected an “interventionist agenda.” But Google is huge, and the DOJ is trying to grasp how its parts intermingle and make it less monopolistic. It dropped a Biden-era proposal requiring Google to sell AI startup stakes. Instead, Google must now notify officials before making AI investments. Early 2025 reports say Google has thrown another b ... Read full article.