If Google’s generative AI Gemini Assistant The chatbot is set to surpass OpenAI’s ChatGPT in popularity in the coming years, it may have to do so without some of the promotional partnerships that helped push Google search front and center in Americans’ lives. .

In a US federal filed in court on FridayGoogle proposed a series of restrictions that for three years would prevent the company from requiring its device manufacturer, browser, and wireless carrier licensees to distribute Gemini to their US users. Google also gives partners more flexibility in how they set their default search provider for their users.

Google’s proposal responds to a call last month from the United States Department of Justice for Google to not only loosen its grip on partners, but also share more data with competitors and dismiss its Chrome browser business. The company on Friday formally rejected the idea of ​​selling any part of its business or handing over more information to competitors. And its proposed restrictions could be construed more narrowly than the government is seeking.

The battle follows a ruling last August by US district judge Amit Mehta in Washington, DC, who found that Google violated federal antitrust laws through agreements, it becomes the default search provider on iOS and other software often in exchange for sharing ad revenue with partners. The default arrangements helped Google acquire and retain users, giving it a monopoly on search and search ads, Mehta found. The search giant has been able to increase ad prices without restraint, fueling “dramatic revenue growth” and “exceptionally strong operating income,” Mehta wrote in his ruling.

Now, Mehta must decide what sanctions Google will face. He has scheduled hearings starting in April and is expected to issue his decision next August.

The emergence of ChatGPT, Gemini, and similar chatbots as competitors to traditional search engines has emerged in court proceedings. The Justice Department and several state attorneys involved in the case want to make sure Google can’t transfer its old-school search dominance to this emerging field.

But even after Mehta’s upcoming decision, appeals are expected to follow. It could be years before any Google curbs are implemented. That leaves investors bullish about the prospects for Google and its parent company, Alphabet. The conglomerate’s shares have gained more than 37 percent in 2024, on pace to become the eighth best annual surge since it was published 20 years ago.

Transfer of Dominance

During this year’s trial, Google attributed its dominance in search to developing an experience that users love. The Justice Department argued that users stick to the defaults on their phones and browsers—usually Google. The company’s proposal on Friday emphasized that Google doesn’t want to get rid of defaults entirely. It allows, for example, Google to secure the default search status of some Samsung phone models in the US while temporarily suspending a requirement that they all do so.

Google may also reach deals to develop Gemini. Nothing in Google’s proposal would prevent it from paying Samsung to promote Gemini on all of its devices. But under the proposed restrictions, Google cannot require partners to promote Gemini as a condition to distribute in search, Chrome, or the Google Play app store. And it doesn’t stop partners from also working with rival AI companies like OpenAI.