There is a good chance that Google will be forced to sell off its Chrome browser, as the U.S. Department of Justice under Donald Trump is continuing to call for Google to divest the browser.
On Friday, the DoJ sent a new proposal [PDF] to the court in its ongoing antitrust lawsuit against Google, and the updated document still recommends that Google sell Chrome. Last year, Google was found to have a search monopoly, and antitrust regulators have since been deciding on the actions that should be taken to address Google's anticompetitive practices.
The DoJ first asked the court to force the sale of Chrome back in November, under the Biden administration. Google donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund, and Google leadership heaped praise on Trump, perhaps in the hope that the Trump administration would scale back on its recommendations, but that does not appear to have happened.
The latest DoJ filing refers to Google's "unlawful and unchecked, monopolistic conduct" that has led to people being reliant on the Google search engine, calling Google an "economic goliath."
The DoJ says that "Google must divest the Chrome browser" to provide the opportunity for another company to "operate a significant gateway to search the internet" without Google's control.
In addition to divesting Chrome, the DoJ is also recommending that Google be barred from entering into search engine agreements with Apple, which would put an end to the payments that Google makes to Apple to be the default search engine on iPhones, iPads, and Macs, but the DoJ does allow for Google to pay Apple for services that don't have to do with search.
The DoJ says that it would also recommend the divestiture of Android if the proposed remedies do not go far enough to keep Google from "improperly leveraging" Android to its advantage, or if Google attempts to circumvent the remedies put in place by the court, but it has backed off of an imminent Android sale. Google is also not being required to divest all of its AI investments.
Google and the DoJ will be back in court in April where the judge overseeing the case will decide on remedies.
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