AI Shakes Up Google Search Monopoly Trial
So, get this: on Friday, a judge totally asked the U.S. Department of Justice, like, how much room is there for new search engines to pop up now that AI is a big deal? This is happening because the folks trying to stop monopolies want Google to seriously change things up to make online search fair again.
Judge Amit Mehta is the one in charge of this trial about fixing Google's search situation. If he says yes to the DOJ's ideas, AI companies could get a real boost. Honestly, AI is already shaking things up for Google as the main way people find info online, right?
The judge even asked the DOJ lawyer, David Dahlquist, during the final talks if AI is just another way to search or if it's like totally new competition. He was like, "Do you really think someone out there is gonna just start a whole new search engine with everything we're seeing?"
Dahlquist replied that search isn't going anywhere. He said the DOJ's plans are all about making sure Google can't just swat away AI-based competitors.
Someone from OpenAI even showed up in court and said that they're still years away from being able to use their own search tech, like ChatGPT, to answer 80% of people's questions. That's kinda interesting, huh?
Google's lawyer, John Schmidtlein, said that yeah, generative AI is changing how search looks, but Google has already dealt with concerns about AI competition. He said they're not doing those exclusive deals anymore with phone companies and device makers, including Samsung. That means those companies are free to put other search and AI apps on new phones and stuff now.
But the DOJ and a bunch of states are pushing for Google to do way more. They want Google to sell off its Chrome browser, share its search data, and stop paying tons of money, like billions, to companies like Apple just to be the default search engine on new devices.
Dahlquist said these fixes are meant to really open up the online search and advertising markets. He feels Google's actions have "fundamentally broken" competition.
Google, though, says these ideas go way beyond what the court's ruling actually requires. They think it would basically mean giving away their technology to competitors.
The trial about these ideas started in April, and Judge Mehta said he plans to decide by August. If the judge does make Google sell Chrome, OpenAI is even interested in buying it, according to Nick Turley, who heads up products for ChatGPT at OpenAI. Turley also said getting access to Google's search data would really help OpenAI make its answers more accurate and current. What do you think will happen?
