Will Google’s antitrust battle shape the future of AI?
The DOJ’s case could redefine what fair competition looks like in the age of artificial intelligence.
Google is on trial for abusing its dominance in search, but in Washington last week, the real story wasn’t about search engines. It was about artificial intelligence and who gets to control the next era of the internet.
Inside a D.C. courtroom, Judge Amit Mehta listened as Google’s lawyers argued that Gemini, its flagship AI system, should be treated differently from its search business. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) didn't agree, saying Google shouldn’t be allowed to use the same tactics that made it the default search engine on nearly every browser, phone, and operating system.
The case has already shown that Google monopolized search. What’s now at stake is whether those old habits are finding their way into a new industry and how far the company can go in linking its AI tools to its massive product ecosystem.
Oyinebiladou Omemu
Could Google Gemini AI create a new kind of monopoly?
Google wants to make sure any penalties it faces for search don’t affect its AI business. Its lawyer, John Schmidtlein, said bundling Gemini with products such as YouTube or Maps isn’t monopolistic because those products aren’t monopolies themselves.
The judge didn’t sound convinced, though. Asking phone makers to pre-install Gemini in exchange for access to YouTube or Maps feels too similar to the exclusivity tactics that kept Google Search untouchable for years.
This concern brings back memories of the 1990s, when Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer with Windows and sidelined Netscape. Today, Microsoft is embedding Copilot across Office and Windows, while Google is building Gemini deeper into Android and its other platforms. The DOJ wants to stop history from repeating itself before AI becomes another default monopoly.
Why does Google’s antitrust case matter for the future of AI?
This trial isn’t just about penalties or contracts. It’s about who sets the digital defaults of the AI era. The ruling could decide whether Android phones come with Gemini preloaded or whether users get to choose their AI assistant. It could also shape whether startups have room to compete or if Google’s dominance quietly expands from search to intelligence itself.
For Google, the timing isn’t ideal. Search still brings in the revenue, about $173 billion in 2023, but AI is its future. If the court limits how widely Gemini can be distributed, the company risks losing ground to faster rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft.
The DOJ’s challenge is to stop history from looping. Google’s challenge is to prove it can innovate without closing the door on everyone else. This fight isn’t about the past. It’s about defining fair competition when intelligence, not information, becomes the world’s most valuable product.
Emmanuel Umahi
