Google on Trial: AI, Antitrust, and the Battle for the Future of the Internet

Google is facing unprecedented legal pressure in the United States after federal courts found the company illegally maintained monopolies in both online search and digital advertising.

In a separate development, internal testimony revealed that Google used data from its dominant search engine to train artificial intelligence models, raising new concerns that the company is leveraging its monopoly to maintain a competitive edge in the AI race.

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The back-to-back legal blows mark a turning point for the $1.8 trillion tech giant and could force sweeping changes to its business, including data-sharing mandates, structural breakups, or divestitures of key products like Chrome or Android. 

Regulators argue that to restore fair competition, the remedies must not only address Google’s past conduct but also prevent it from consolidating power in emerging technologies like AI.

Search Data Feeding AI Models

While the focus in these antitrust cases has traditionally been on browser defaults, contracts, and market share, a new layer of concern emerged during recent court hearings: artificial intelligence.

According to deposition testimony and internal emails presented by the DOJ, Google used data from its search engine, including user queries and feedback, to pretrain some of its large language models, including its Gemini AI and the AI Overviews feature embedded in Google Search. This revelation is pivotal. It confirms that Google’s AI capabilities are not developing in isolation, but are directly fueled by the same mechanisms under antitrust scrutiny.

Deposition testimony from a Google engineer. Check the part about search signals and upweighting authoritative pages. Also, AIO model training -> Google Used Search Data To Train AI Models

“In a separate internal email relating to training Google’s Gemini model, a Google… pic.twitter.com/7tjOvxL5J0

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) April 21, 2025

A senior Google engineer, Phiroze Parakh, testified that search data helped pretrain the model behind AI Overviews, and that user feedback was used to fine-tune when that feature would appear. 

In an internal email, a Google employee wrote that search “signals will be very helpful for us to upweight good authoritative pages and downweight the spammy untrustable ones” — a strategy that directly links search dominance with AI model development.

This alignment between antitrust concerns and AI strategy could dramatically shift how regulators approach Big Tech. 

The DOJ argues that any remedy to Google’s search monopoly must include its generative AI tools, as they are trained on and benefit from the same monopolistic data sources.

Remedies on the Table: Can Google Be Forced to Share?

With the court now considering how to fix Google’s monopolies, regulators are proposing a series of remedies that go beyond traditional fines or restrictions. 

The most aggressive proposals that force Google to license its search data, including real-time query information, to competitors.

The idea is simple but radical. Because Google has a near-total lock on search traffic, rival search engines like DuckDuckGo and Kagi struggle to build quality indexes. 

Without the volume of user clicks and queries, their results remain inferior. Licensing Google’s data could level the playing field.

The DOJ’s argument is that the data collected through exclusive contracts, such as the one with Apple, are not proprietary in the traditional sense. They’re the byproduct of anticompetitive deals and should be made available to rivals if true market competition is to exist.

Google, unsurprisingly, sees this as a threat to its business and privacy commitments. According to The Verge, in court, its lawyers claimed the DOJ’s proposal would allow competitors to simply “cut and paste Google’s search results” and profit from Google’s infrastructure without having invested in it. They also raised concerns that sharing real-time search data could compromise user privacy.

However, Europe’s Digital Markets Act already requires Google to share search data from more than a billion historical queries. The sky has not fallen in the EU, and critics of Google argue that a similar system in the U.S. could foster innovation and accountability.

Could a Breakup Actually Happen?

The idea of breaking up Google seemed more fantasy than reality for years. But after consecutive courtroom defeats, a breakup is no longer off the table.

The DOJ has floated several options, including forcing Google to divest its Chrome browser, separating its ad tech businesses, or even selling off Android. 

While these are long shots, the legal pressure is real. Judges have already ruled that Google maintained its dominance through illegal conduct. 

What comes next will determine whether the courts are willing to dismantle the tools that enabled that dominance.

And then there’s the timing. This antitrust reckoning comes just as the AI race is heating up.

If Google is forced to share data or split its business, it could lose the edge in training and deploying advanced AI models. That opens the door for new players, as well as existing ones like Microsoft or OpenAI, to capitalize on a more open and competitive landscape.

Why It Matters to Everyone

This battle isn’t solely about contracts, code, or corporate market share. It’s a fight about who controls how we access information in the digital age.

• If the courts force Google to open up its data, competitors may finally have a chance to build viable alternatives to Google Search and AI tools.
• If ad tech is restructured, smaller publishers could benefit from more equitable ad revenue, and consumers might see fewer manipulative tracking practices.
• And if AI development becomes more democratized, we could see safer, more transparent, and more innovative tools emerge across industries.

Whether you’re an everyday Google user, a small business that advertises online, or a developer building with AI, the outcome of these cases could directly impact your digital life.

Key Takeaways

• Google used its search engine data to train AI models, intensifying concerns about how its dominance is expanding into AI.
• Federal courts have ruled that Google maintained illegal monopolies in both search and advertising, setting the stage for sweeping remedies.
• Regulators are considering forcing Google to share real-time search data with rivals, a move that could transform the search and AI landscape.
• The company faces potential divestitures, including the separation of Chrome, parts of its ad business, or even Android.
• Google’s legal troubles may finally bring structural changes to an internet ecosystem it has controlled for over two decades.