The highly anticipated antitrust trial between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Google will kick off Tuesday.
Google and the DOJ — with a coalition of state attorneys general — will squre off in the U.S. District Court for D.C. before Judge Amit Mehta.
The government will spend the first few weeks of trial by presenting its case alleging Google’s dominance in the search market.
It is the first major antitrust case in the U.S. against a tech company since the Microsoft case in the late 90s.
DOJ alleges Google harmed customers with exclusive contracts to be the default search engine on Apple and Android devices.
Google has pushed back on the allegations of anticompetitive behavior, arguing that its products have become popular given the company’s advances in technology.
During the trial, the DOJ may argue that the company’s dominance is hurting consumers by limiting rival platforms that could offer better choices on a range of matters — from search speed to better data privacy practices.
In addition, as artificial intelligence (AI) technology ramps up, the DOJ may argue that if Google’s dominance is left unchecked it could leverage its market power into the new technology.
Bill Baer, who served as assistant attorney general in charge of the DOJ antitrust division between 2013 and 2016, said the AI argument is a legitimate issue for the government to raise.
“Part of the antitrust obligation on part of the government is to both look at past conduct, but also look at the future implications of allowing the monopoly to continue,” Baer said.
Stay tuned for more coverage of the trial at TheHill.com.
