Google shouldn't sell Android or Chrome

Google it won't be necessary to sell its Chrome browser, a judge in Washington said Tuesday, handing the company an unexpected victory in its battle with U.S. antitrust authorities. But it ordered Google to share data with its rivals to open up competition in online search.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta also ruled that the company could keep its Android operating system, which along with Chrome helps drive Google's online advertising, which dominates the market.

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The ruling follows a five-year legal battle between one of the world's most profitable companies and the United States, where regulators and antitrust officials have long questioned its market dominance. Mehta ruled last year that Google holds an illegal monopoly in online search and advertising more generally.

However, the judge approached the task of imposing the remedies on Google with “ humility ,” he wrote, noting the competition created by artificial intelligence companies since the case began.

“Here the court is being asked to look into a crystal ball into the future, which is not a judge’s strong point,” Mehta said.

Sharing data with the company's competitors will certainly strengthen rivals in Google's advertising business. But not selling Chrome or Android eliminates a major concern for investors who see them as core parts of Google's overall business.

Google has been facing a significant threat lately from increasingly popular artificial intelligence tools, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, which are already eroding Google's dominance.

If they are allowed access to the data that Google is required to share, AI companies could boost the development of chatbots and, in some cases, AI search engines and browsers.

Deepak Mathivanan, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, said the data-sharing requirements pose a competitive risk to Google, but not immediately.

U.S. antitrust enforcement authorities are considering their next steps, Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater told X.

Google, on the other hand, said it was concerned that data sharing "would impact our users and their privacy, and we are carefully reviewing the decision."

Of course the company plans to appeal, which means it could be years before it is forced to act on the decision that is likely to end up in the Supreme Court.

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Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.