The possibility of demanding a Google split marks a profound shift by U.S. competition authorities who have largely left the tech giants alone since their failure to break up Microsoft two decades ago.
The ministry wants Google to divest itself of Chrome, the world’s most widely used internet browser, because it is a major access point to the search engine, undermining the chances of potential competitors.
According to the StatCounter website, in September Google accounted for 90% of the global online search market and even 94% on smartphones.
Antitrust authorities are also expected to propose that Google unbundles Android from its other products, including the Google Play search engine and mobile app store, according to Bloomberg.
The government also wants to act on the research results formulated by generative AI, the “AI Overviews” which directly answer users’ questions, without having to click on links.
