Judge lets Google keep Chrome and Apple deal but orders data sharing to boost competition

Google scored a rare win in its long-running antitrust battle on Tuesday after a Washington court ruled it will not have to sell its Chrome browser. However, the company has been ordered to share data with competitors in a bid to level the playing field in online search.

Shares of Google parent Alphabet rose 7.2% in extended trading following the decision, while Apple’s stock climbed 3% as investors welcomed the news that Google can continue making lucrative payments to Apple to maintain search dominance on its devices.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said Google could also keep its Android operating system intact, both of which underpin its market-leading advertising business. His ruling follows a five-year legal fight that began when regulators accused Google of monopolising search and related advertising.

Last year, Mehta ruled that Google holds an illegal monopoly, but in Tuesday’s decision he wrote that remedies must be approached with “humility,” citing the competitive pressure now coming from artificial intelligence. “Here the court is asked to gaze into a crystal ball and look to the future. Not exactly a judge’s forte,” he remarked.

The court’s order means Google must share certain data with rivals, a move that could benefit AI companies building chatbots and search tools that compete with Google. “The money flowing into this space, and how quickly it has arrived, is astonishing,” Mehta wrote, adding that AI firms are better placed to challenge Google than traditional search competitors have been in decades.

Google said in a blog post it was reviewing the decision closely and raised concerns that data sharing “will impact our users and their privacy.” The company has indicated plans to appeal, which could eventually send the case to the Supreme Court. “Judge Mehta is aware that the Supreme Court is the likely final destination for the case, and he has chosen remedies that stand a good chance of acceptance by the Court,” said William Kovacic, director of the competition law centre at George Washington University.

The ruling also allows Apple and other device makers to continue receiving billions in annual payments from Google for setting its search engine as default. Analysts at Morgan Stanley previously estimated that Apple alone receives about $20 billion a year.

While Google avoided the threat of losing Chrome or Android, the company still faces other antitrust battles. It is preparing for a separate trial later this month over its dominance in advertising technology and is appealing a ruling that it must overhaul its app store following a lawsuit by Epic Games.

The broader crackdown on Big Tech began under former President Donald Trump and has spanned administrations, with cases also pending against Meta, Amazon, and Apple.