Shift 2,000-plus employees, significant privacy breach of user' data and …: Google search chief warns things company will be forced to do to meet antitrust remedies

Time of India

12-05-2025

's search chief testified Friday (May 9) that implementing the Department of Justice's proposed antitrust remedies would require diverting up to 2,000 employees from their current roles, representing about 20% of the company's search team.
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Liz Reid
, Google's vice president of search, made the statement during the final days of the remedies trial that will determine penalties against Google after a judge ruled last year the company maintained an illegal monopoly in internet search.
"People ask Google questions they wouldn't ask anyone else," Reid testified, highlighting the sensitive nature of search data that the DOJ wants Google to share with competitors.
Google defends proprietary Search infrastructure
Reid warned that sharing Google's proprietary data would create significant privacy risks for users. She revealed that Google's "Knowledge Graph" database, which powers many search results, "contains more than 500 billion facts" and represents over "$20 billion in engineering costs and content acquisition" investments spanning more than a decade.
The DOJ's proposed remedies include forcing Google to share user click data and search results with competitors, eliminate "compelled syndication" deals that make Google the default search engine on browsers and smartphones, and potentially divest its Chrome browser.
"The calculation doesn't even include potential Chrome divestiture," noted a source familiar with Reid's testimony, suggesting the actual resource requirements could be even larger.
Judge's decision expected by August
Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified earlier in the trial that the government's proposed remedies would "definitely have many unintended consequences" on products that consumers depend on daily. The company argues that minor adjustments to its business practices would be more appropriate than the sweeping changes the DOJ seeks.
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Judge Amit Mehta is expected to issue a decision by August following closing arguments scheduled for May 29-30. The ruling could fundamentally reshape how consumers access information online.
"This court's remedy should be forward looking and not ignore what's on the horizon," argued David Dahlquist, the government's lead litigator, suggesting Google is using similar strategies to dominate emerging AI technologies.
Google faces a separate remedies trial for its advertising technology business beginning September 22, further complicating the tech giant's regulatory challenges.