DOJ vs. Google: Upcoming Remedies and Legal Proceedings

The Justice Department is proposing potential remedies against Google, including a breakup, with a key decision expected by August 2025.

### DOJ vs. Google: The Remedies Phase Begins
* ⚖ The Justice Department (DOJ) has initiated the remedies phase in its case against Google, filing a **preliminary framework of potential remedies** last night.
* 📅 An official proposal detailing the DOJ's demands, including the possibility of a **breakup of Google**, is expected on **November 20th**.
* 🔍 Following this, Google will have the opportunity to respond over the next few months, engaging in **further discovery and interviews**.
* 🗓 A significant two-week remedy trial is scheduled for late April 2025, where witnesses will testify about the **impact of the proposed actions on Google's business**.
* 📜 The judge has promised to issue a decision by **August 2025**, which will conclude the trial court phase and allow Google to begin its **appeal process**.
* 🛑 Google has expressed concerns over the DOJ's proposals, arguing that they **extend beyond the specific contracts deemed illegal** and threaten the company's structure, including **potential divestiture of Chrome**.
* 🤖 Additionally, the DOJ is raising issues regarding the intersection of search and AI, asserting that **Google should not benefit from illegal conduct in one area while leveraging it in another**, which Google contests as **outside the scope of the current case**.

You reported this back in August that this might be a consideration, that the DOJ would put this to the judge. What's moved on from that? Reporting live? Yes. So now we are actually getting into the remedies phase. So last night, the Justice Department put its first filing in. It actually just laid out a framework of various things that it's thinking about as it is crafting a remedy proposal. They're going to have an official proposal that lays out everything that they want Google to do on November 20th. But this was just sort of like, here's what we're thinking. These are some of the options. And the big one, of course, was the breakup. Okay. So let's get into that timeline. You mentioned November 20th. We'll bring it up on the screen. The first is the sort of firming of the proposals. Then Google gets a chance. Next April, we'll have a trial. And then by August, I think of 2025, we

might get some sort of decision. Explain all of that, please, Leah. Yes. So DOJ is going to put its filing in that says this is exactly what we want. You know, whether that's a breakup, data sharing, all those things. And then Google gets a chance to respond over the next couple of months. They're going to be doing a lot more discovery again. So they're going to do interviews with Google folks. They're going to get more documents, all leading up to this big two-week remedy trial that will take place late April in that. They're going to have witnesses testify before the judge about what would actually happen to Google's business if he takes any of these particular actions. And then he has promised that he will issue a decision in August of next year that officially wraps up the case at the trial court, and then Google can start its appeal. The appeal takes like 18 months to two years. So we're looking at like August for that.

This is sort of like the first big deadline. And then we'll go into the appeals, and then, you know, maybe some of this would be taking place like 18 months to two years from now, from then. Let's just go to Google's own response because the US judge is saying that Google's distribution agreements foreclose a substantial portion of the general search services market and impair rivals' opportunities to compete. That's the judge's take. Google's take is that this is pretty radical right here. Yes. I mean, Google said what he found was illegal is these specific contracts. So DOJ should be focusing on the contracts and just looking at those. They say, you know, that these things that the Justice Department is proposing go way beyond those contracts. They're talking about, you know, breaking up our company. They're talking about making us sell off Chrome, which wasn't even really part of the case that much because Google owns Chrome.

And so it is pushing back pretty hard on a lot of these remedies, the breakup in particular. The other thing that they have said is, you know, the Justice Department says that AI is a very big issue here because a lot of the data that Google uses to build its search results is the same data that is used to build its A.I. products. And the Justice Department says that Google shouldn't sort of get to benefit from the illegal conduct in the search market, in the AI market. And so it wants to put some limits on that. And Google says, wait a second, we were talking about search. That's not AI. You shouldn't get to like make some limits on us in this completely other different field. So that will be a big issue for the judge to decide next year.

Google Faces Historic Antitrust Case

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The Justice Department has initiated the remedies phase in its case against Google, with a framework of potential options laid out in a recent filing.

An official proposal detailing the DOJ's demands from Google is set for November 20th.

The timeline includes Google's response, a trial in April 2025, and a decision from the judge by August 2025, followed by a potential appeal from Google.

A US judge has criticized Google's distribution agreements for limiting competition in the general search services market.

Google argues that the judge's findings are radical and that the Justice Department should focus solely on the specific contracts.

The company is pushing back against the DOJ's proposals, which include breaking up the company and selling off Chrome.

Google's Legal Battle Over AI and Search Data

The Justice Department is pushing back against Google's remedies, particularly the breakup, citing the company's use of the same data for both search results and AI products.

They argue that Google shouldn't benefit from illegal conduct in the search market while operating in the AI market.

Google contests this, stating that the two fields are separate, leading to a significant legal issue for the judge to decide next year.