The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) plans to ask a federal judge to force Google to sell its Chrome web browser, according to reports from Bloomberg. 

What’s Driving the DOJ’s Push?

This request is part of efforts by antitrust officials and states involved in the case to implement measures addressing Google’s dominance in search, artificial intelligence (AI), and its Android smartphone operating system. 

In August, Judge Amit Mehta found that Google had illegally monopolized the search market. The judge claimed that Google violated “Section 2 of the Sherman Act.” Following this ruling, the DOJ has been assessing various measures to curb Google's anticompetitive practices. In October, the DOJ and a group of state attorneys general submitted a 32-page document outlining potential remedies to end Google's monopolistic control over search and related technologies. 

Now, It’s proposing the sale of its Chrome browser. If approved, the proposals could impact Google’s control over online search—currently at 90%—and reshape its role in the growing AI and ad industry.

What’s the DOJ recommending?

The DOJ is recommending a series of remedies. The proposed remedies would force Google to share more data with advertisers and give them more control over ad placement.  It also seeks to provide websites with greater options to limit their content from being used by Google’s artificial intelligence tools.

The DOJ is also proposing that Google separate its Android operating system from its Search and Google Play services, though it stops short of requiring a sale of Android. Part of the proposal is requiring Google to end exclusive contracts that limit competition, a key issue in the antitrust case.

What’s Google saying?

Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s VP of Regulatory Affairs, criticized the DOJ’s actions. She said, “The Justice Department continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case.” She added that these measures “would harm consumers, developers, and American technological leadership at precisely the moment it is most needed.”

If Judge Mehta accepts the DOJ’s proposals, they could become the most significant regulatory intervention in the tech industry since the government’s failed attempt to break up Microsoft two decades ago. Antitrust officials are also pushing to ban exclusive contracts that contributed to Google’s market dominance.

The DOJ and state officials are expected to formally present their recommendations on Wednesday.