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 to distribution partners.

On AI, the DOJ said it’s no longer calling for “the mandatory divestiture of Google’s AI investments” and will instead be satisfied with “prior notification for future investments.” It also said that instead of giving Google the option to divest Android now, it will leave a future decision up to the court, depending on whether the market becomes more competitive.

This proposal follows antitrust suits filed by the DOJ and 38 state attorneys general, leading Judge Amit P. Mehta to rule that Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search. Google has said it will appeal Mehta’s decision, but in the meantime offered an alternative proposal that it said would address his concerns by providing partners with more flexibility.

A Google spokesperson told Reuters that the DOJ’s “”sweeping proposals continue to go miles beyond the Court’s decision, and would harm America’s consumers, economy and national security.”

Mehta is scheduled to hear arguments from both Google and the DOJ in April.