US judge bets AI arms race will displace Google search monopoly, as questions remain
By Khushita Vasant ( September 5, 2025, 01:26 GMT | Comment) -- US District Judge Amit Mehta's ruling in the government's Internet search monopolization lawsuit against Google banks on hope that an "arms race" among artificial intelligence companies will disrupt the tech giant's monopoly, even as he hedges his optimism that "AI may someday fundamentally alter search, but not anytime soon." Mehta's order, which doesn't force Google to sell Chrome — something that many Google critics hoped for — has been criticized by rivals pushed out of the market by the tech giant. While Mehta pledges to revisit his remedy order if competition isn't substantially restored, it's often overlooked that antitrust law enforcement lags the pace of technology by years, and he may not have the same market to remedy years from now when smaller competitors come complaining of antitrust injury.When Google dodged a potential antitrust lawsuit by the US Federal Trade Commission more than a decade ago, then-Commissioner Edith Ramirez said “the evidence in this case simply did not support taking that drastic step." Those words didn't age well because, seven years later, the tech giant was sued by the US Department of Justice for illegally monopolizing the Internet search markets....
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