Google’s Monopoly DELAYED Innovations Like ChatGPT, DOJ Says

tech.hindustantimes.com:

ChatGPT and other technology innovations may have been released years ago if Google hadn't monopolized the search market, the Justice Department told a federal court Thursday.

Days after Microsoft Corp. announced that it would incorporate OpenAI's AI-powered chat technology into its Bing search engine, Alphabet Inc.'s Google said it would release its own conversational AI product, said Kenneth Dintzer, the Justice Department's lead lawyer in its antitrust case against the search giant.

That “shows what real competition will do,” Dintzer told Judge Amit Mehta. “What has been going on for the past 12 years is Google has been maintaining its monopoly. Would we have seen ChatGPT six years earlier? Would we see five other competitors competing for search? Those are questions none of us can answer.”

Google has asked Mehta to throw out two antitrust cases brought by the Justice Department and state attorneys general before a scheduled trial in September. The Justice Department and a group of states separately sued in 2020, alleging that Google's deals to ensure its search engine is preloaded on web browsers and mobile devices violate antitrust laws. Mehta is overseeing both lawsuits.

Google's attorney John Schmidtlein acknowledged that the agreements with Apple Inc. and smartphone manufacturers to be the default search engine give the company “an advantage,” but that doesn't violate antitrust laws.

“There's absolutely an advantage, but it's not insurmountable,” he said.

Schmidtlein's comments responded to questions from Mehta about whether Google's default status gives it an edge that competitors can't match.

“There is self-reinforcing quality to these agreements,” Mehta said. “What seems to me to be unique is the product gets better