(Dec 6): Alphabet Inc’s Google must renegotiate any contract to make its search engine or artificial intelligence (AI) app the default for smartphones and other devices every year, a federal judge ruled.
Judge Amit Mehta in Washington sided with the US Justice Department on the one-year limitation in his final ruling on what changes the search giant must make in the wake of a landmark ruling that the company illegally monopolised online search. The yearly renegotiation will give rivals — particularly those in the burgeoning generative AI field — a chance to compete for key placements.
The final judgement will still allow Google to offer its products to Apple Inc for use in its popular iPhone and pay other electronics makers like Samsung Electronics Co for default placement. But the judge said those contracts must be renegotiated annually.
Mehta noted in his ruling that both Google and the US government said they could work with the one-year limitation on default contracts. As such, “the court holds that a hard-and-fast termination requirement after one year would best carry out the purpose of the injunctive relief”.
Google and the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Following a 10-week trial, Mehta found in August 2024 that Google illegally monopolised online search and search advertising markets. He then held a second trial in the spring of 2025 to consider the Justice Department’s request that Google be forced to sell off its popular web browser, Chrome.
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Mehta rejected that request, ruling instead in September 2025 that Google must share some of the data underpinning its search results with rivals. Friday’s decision expands on that ruling, outlining the specific circumstances in which the company must share its data and with whom.
In the September decision, Mehta ruled that Google could no longer pay companies to exclusively use its Search, Chrome web browser or Google Play Store, though he declined to bar all payments outright. That ruling incorporated aspects of proposals from Google and the Justice Department, requiring him to issue a second one defining some of the decision’s technical terms.
Google has said it plans to appeal Mehta’s initial ruling that its contracts, which require companies like Apple and Samsung to make its search engine the default on browsers and phones, violate US antitrust law. The Justice Department could also seek to appeal Mehta’s remedy decision.
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