Source: SFGate
“Google is confronting an existential threat as the U.S. government tries to break up the company as punishment for [supposedly, but not even close to actually] turning its revolutionary search engine into an illegal monopoly. The drama began to unfold Monday in a Washington courtroom as three weeks of hearings kicked off to determine how the company should be penalized for operating a monopoly in search. In its opening arguments, federal antitrust enforcers also urged the court to impose forward-looking remedies to prevent Google from using artificial intelligence to further its dominance. ‘This is a moment in time, we’re at an inflection point, will we abandon the search market and surrender them to control of the monopolists or will we let competition prevail and give choice to future generations,’ said Justice Department attorney David Dahlquist.” (04/21/25)