Sundar Pichai warns of ‘extraordinary’ risk to Google Search

Alphabet/Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified today that the U.S. government’s proposed remedies could upend how the company handles search and how users experience the web.

Why we care. A judge ruled that Google illegally maintained a monopoly in search. Now, the court is deciding how to fix it. If the court adopts the DOJ’s proposals, it could reshape the search landscape.

What Pichai said. Today, Pichai called the data-sharing requirements “so far-reaching, so extraordinary” that it amounts to a “de facto divestiture” of Google Search itself. Also:

• Pichai argued that forcing Google to share search data compromises user privacy. “People search in their most vulnerable moments.”
• The DOJ suggested Google could use its search monopoly to strengthen Gemini, its AI assistant. Pichai said the field is still open, noting OpenAI’s leadership and that Gemini still lags.
• Pichai warned that the proposed remedies would deter future innovation, saying it would be “unviable” for Google to continue research and development. “It would be trivial to reverse engineer and effectively build Google Search from the outside.”

The big picture. The DOJ’s proposed remedies could force Google to divest Chrome, stop paying to be the default search engine, and share its search data with rivals.

What’s next. Judge Amit Mehta is expected to issue a remedy decision by August. Alphabet is expected to appeal, meaning the fight over the future of Google Search could continue for years.

More coverage. See Techmeme.

View the full article