Google’s Chrome browser would be worth $20 billion on the open market if the Justice Department can convince a federal judge to order the sale, according to a report.
The DOJ will recommend in a filing Wednesday that US District Judge Amit Mehta order Chrome to be sold as part of a set of changes aimed at ending Google’s monopoly power, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. matter.
If Chrome goes to market, the browser would be worth “at least $15-20 billion, given that it has over 3 billion monthly active users,” according to estimates by Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh.
The feds were widely expected to seek a divestment of Google’s search business as part of their proposed settlement. Mehta, who ruled in August that Google has an illegal monopoly over internet search, will have sole discretion over the measures to implement.
A stripping of Chrome is seen as critical to addressing Google’s monopoly because many users access the main search engine through the browser, sources told Bloomberg. Chrome controls 61% of web browser traffic, according to data from StatCounter.
Finding a buyer with the resources to buy Chrome and get a deal past regulators could be difficult. Singh told Bloomberg that Microsoft-backed OpenAI is a logical candidate, while Amazon is possible but “extremely unlikely” because of imminent antitrust scrutiny.
The DOJ has reportedly chosen not to recommend that Google be forced to sell its Android operating system. Instead, they will push for Google to be required to unbundle Android from other services, including its main search engine and the Google Play app store.
The feds will also recommend a number of other changes aimed at increasing competition, such as requiring Google to license data collected by its search engine to rivals and allowing Internet publishers more freedom to blocked the company from using their data to power the artificial intelligence function.
Under the DOJ’s proposal, the feds could back away from their call for a forced sale of Chrome if other legal remedies prove effective enough without it, the report said.
Google declined to comment on Chrome’s estimated price.
“The DOJ continues to push a radical agenda that goes beyond the legal issues in this case,” Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, said in a statement.
“The government putting its finger on the scales in these ways would hurt consumers, developers and American technology leadership just when it’s needed most,” Mulholland added.
Mehta is expected to make his final decision on Google’s search remedies by next summer. Google has vowed to appeal the rulings — with CEO Sundar Pichai recently admitting that he expected the resulting court battles to drag on for years.
President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory represents another wild card. Trump, a longtime critic of Google, has however recently signaled that he is reluctant to break up the company because doing so would be a win for China, as well as other big-tech rivals like Meta.
At the same time, Trump has nominated Big Tech critic Mike Gaetz to serve as his attorney general.
While Gaez’s confirmation is far from certain amid allegations of sexual misconduct during his time in Congress, former Republican lawmakers have expressed support for breaking up Google in the past.
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