Technologies

US Wants Judge to Break Up Google, Force Sale of Chrome: Here’s What to Know

OpenAI, Perplexity AI and Yahoo have expressed interest in buying Chrome, as Google’s legal battle escalates. Here’s what it could mean for the future of the web.

The US Department of Justice and Google are facing off in court over allegations that company is illegally maintaining its dominance in the search engine market. As a result, the DOJ is advocating for Google to sell off some of its key assets, including its Chrome browser. The hearings began April 22 and are expected to last three weeks.

This proposal has attracted interest from several tech companies, including OpenAI, Perplexity AI and Yahoo, all expressing willingness to purchase Chrome should the court mandate its sale.

The case could change how tech companies do business, as well as how people find answers to their online search queries. Government lawyers made their case in opening statements Monday, saying that Google should be forced to sell Chrome, its web browser, which pushes people to the Google search engine.

The company should also be forced to help rival search engines that it has unfairly kept out of competition, Justice Department lawyer David Dahlquist said.

«This is the time for the court to tell Google and all other monopolists who are out there listening, and they are listening, that there are consequences when you break the antitrust laws,» Dahlquist said, according to The New York Times.

Google counters

Google’s lawyers say that any remedies should only consider the company’s deals with companies such as Apple, Mozilla and Samsung to make it the default search engine for smartphones and other devices.

«Google won its place in the market fair and square,» said company attorney John Schmidtlein, according to NBC News.

Judge Amit P. Mehta, of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, is now hearing arguments and executives from major tech and artificial intelligence companies have been testifying.

Mehta is the same judge who ruled in August that Google illegally maintained a monopoly in search. That trial, held last year, took 10 weeks and was years in the making.

«After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,» Mehta wrote in the August decision. «It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.»

After Mehta hears arguments, he’s expected to order remedies by the end of summer.

Google is currently the king of online search, with more than 89% global market share, according to GlobalStats, down slightly from 91% last summer.

A representative for Google referred CNET to the company’s online statement from before the hearings began. In it, company vice president Lee-Anne Mulholland says such sweeping remedies would harm America’s economy.

Mulholland calls the action «a backwards-looking case» and says the DOJ proposal would make it harder for users to get to preferred services, would prevent the company from competing fairly and would force Google to share users’ private search queries with other companies.

OpenAI, Perplexity and Yahoo want to buy Chrome

On Tuesday, OpenAI executive Nick Turley testified that his company would be interested in buying the Google Chrome browser if the company is forced to sell it.

He also said that ChatGPT, OpenAI’s artificial intelligence chatbot, is «years away from its goal of being able to use its own search technology to answer 80% of queries,» according to Reuters. Turley also testified that Google declined an attempt by OpenAI to use Google search technology within ChatGPT.

Two other companies have also expressed interesting in buying Chrome — Perplexity AI and Yahoo.

Perplexity’s chief business officer, Dmitry Shevelenko, expressed interest in purchasing Chrome in court.

Yahoo’s general manager of search, Brian Provost, also testified that the company is interested in acquiring Chrome. Yahoo has been developing its own browser prototype but believes that purchasing Chrome is a faster route to increasing its search market share, according to The Verge.

Potential outcomes

Many things could happen to Google, including a breakup of the company. If such a penalty were instituted, it might involve breaking off the Chrome browser or Android smartphone operating system parts of the company.

The DOJ wants to prohibit Google from entering into exclusive agreements that makes its search engine as the default on devices and browsers. The Department of Justice also wants Google to share certain user data with competitors to level the playing field.

This would be the government’s first attempt to dismantle a company for illegal monopolization since its unsuccessful efforts to break up Microsoft two decades ago.

Google could also be forced to make its data available to competitors or abandon the controversial economic deals that made the Google search engine the default on devices such as the iPhone.

Why does this matter?

Google is not the only company facing legal issues. Major tech companies Apple and Amazon are also facing antitrust lawsuits. An antitrust trial against Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, began April 14.

The trial could also affect the burgeoning artificial intelligence era. The Justice Department has said that if remedies are not imposed on Google, it expects Google to use its AI products to further extend its monopoly.

And since the August trial, presidential administrations have changed. As the Times notes, the hearings signal that the Trump administration intends to keep an eye on the changing tech industry.

Do people switch from default search engines?

The August case focused on Google paying Apple and other companies to make its search engine the default on devices such as Apple’s iPhone. Google has said it didn’t maintain a monopoly through such agreements and that consumers could change their device defaults to use other search engines.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified in October that the idea that people shift from one search engine to another is «completely bogus» and added «defaults is the only thing that matters in changing search behavior.»

According to the Justice Department, the Google search engine is used for nearly 90% of web searches, but the company disputes that number, the Times reports.

The Sherman Antitrust Act, which dates to 1890, prohibits activities restricting interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace, essentially outlawing corporate monopolies. It’s the cornerstone of US antitrust legislation, leading to the federal government’s breakup of late 19th century Gilded Age industrial giants.

CNET’s Imad Khan contributed to this report.

Technologies

OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Atlas, Challenging Google Chrome With an AI-First Browser

The browser is available now for MacOS users, with versions for Windows, iOS and Android coming later.

OpenAI has released a generative AI-powered web browser called ChatGPT Atlas, a major step in the company’s expansion beyond its ChatGPT chatbot platform. The browser, announced Tuesday, integrates ChatGPT’s capabilities directly into the browsing experience, aiming to make web use more interactive and chatbot-like.

OpenAI sparked speculation earlier Tuesday after posting a teaser on its X account showing a series of browser tabs. During the YouTube livestream, CEO Sam Altman and others announced the browser and live-demoed a few of the new features now available for MacOS users worldwide. Support for Windows, iOS and Android operating systems is «coming soon,» the company said.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

The new product launch comes amid growing competition among tech companies to embed AI assistants more deeply into everyday tools. For instance, Google has already integrated Gemini into its Chrome browser to add AI to the online browsing experience. Earlier this year, the AI search tool developer Perplexity launched Comet, an AI-powered Chromium-based web browser. Here’s everything OpenAI announced today.

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What is ChatGPT Atlas?

ChatGPT Atlas looks and functions like a traditional web browser. It includes tabs, bookmarks, extensions and incognito mode, but adds popular ChatGPT functions and features throughout. Opening a new tab lets you either enter a URL or ask ChatGPT a question. The browser includes separate tabs for different types of results, such as search links, images, videos and news.

A built-in ChatGPT sidebar can analyze whatever page you’re viewing to provide summaries, explanations or quick answers without leaving the site. ChatGPT can also offer in-line writing assistance, suggesting edits and completions inside any text field, such as an email draft.

One of the biggest new features is browser memory, which keeps track of pages and topics you’ve previously explored. Atlas can suggest related pages, help you return to past research or automate repetitive tasks. Memory is optional and can be viewed, edited or deleted at any time in settings.

Atlas also supports natural language commands, meaning you could type something like «reopen the shoes I looked at yesterday» or «clean up my tabs» and the browser should respond accordingly.

Read more: OpenAI Plans to Allow Erotica and Change Mental Health Restrictions for Adult Users

Agent mode in Atlas preview

OpenAI also previewed agent mode, which lets ChatGPT take limited actions on behalf of the user — such as booking travel, ordering groceries or gathering research. The company says the mode is faster than standard ChatGPT and comes with new safeguards to keep users in control.

Agent mode is available to Plus and Pro subscribers, and is available in beta for Business users.

«In the same way that GPT-5 and Codex are these great tools for vibe coding, we believe we can start in the long run to have an amazing tool for vibe lifing,» Will Ellsworth, the research lead for agent mode in Atlas, said during the livestream. «So delegating all kinds of tasks both in your personal and professional life to the agent in Atlas.»

How to get started with ChatGPT Atlas

To get started, you’ll first download Atlas at chatgpt.com/atlas. When you open Atlas for the first time, you’ll need to sign in to your ChatGPT account.

From there, you can import your bookmarks, saved passwords and browsing history from your current browser.

Technologies

Amazon Will Pay $2.5 Billion for Misleading Customers Into Amazon Prime Subscriptions

Amazon settles its FTC lawsuit, and agrees to pay billions for «tricking» customers into Prime subscriptions.

In September, Amazon settled its case with the Federal Trade Commission over whether it had misled customers who signed up for Amazon Prime. The $2.5 billion settlement is one of the largest consumer protection settlements in US history, and while Amazon did not admit to wrongdoing, it’s still changing things.

The FTC said $1.5 billion will go into a fund to repay eligible subscribers, with the remaining $1 billion collected as a civil penalty. The settlement requires Amazon to add a «clear and conspicuous» option to decline Prime during checkout and to simplify the cancellation process.

«Amazon and our executives have always followed the law, and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers,» Mark Blafkin, Amazon senior manager, said in a statement. «We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal Prime members around the world.»

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Why was the FTC suing Amazon?

The FTC filed suit against Amazon in 2023, accusing it of using «dark patterns» to nudge people into Prime subscriptions and then making it too hard to cancel. The FTC maintained Amazon was in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.

«Specifically, Amazon used manipulative, coercive or deceptive user-interface designs known as ‘dark patterns’ to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions,» the FTC complaint states.

Who is eligible for Amazon’s big payout?

Amazon’s legal settlement is limited to customers who enrolled in Amazon Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025. It’s also restricted to customers who subscribed to Prime using a «challenged enrollment flow» or who enrolled in Prime through any method but were unsuccessful in canceling their memberships.

The FTC called out specific enrollment pages, including Prime Video enrollment, the Universal Prime Decision page, the Shipping Option Select page and the Single Page Checkout. To qualify for a payout, claimants must also not have used more than 10 Amazon Prime benefits in any 12-month period.

Customers who signed up via those challenged processes and did not use more than three Prime benefits within one year will be paid automatically by Amazon within 90 days. Other eligible Amazon customers will need to file a claim, and Amazon is required to send notices to those people within 30 days of making its automatic payments.

Customers who did not use a challenged sign-up process but instead were unable to cancel their memberships will also need to file claims for payment.

How much will the Amazon payments be?

Payouts to eligible Amazon claimants will be limited to a maximum of $51. That amount could be reduced depending on the number of Amazon Prime benefits you used while subscribed to the service. Those benefits include free two-day shipping, watching shows or movies on Prime Video or Whole Foods grocery discounts.

Technologies

This Rumored Feature Could Make NotebookLM Essential for Work as Well as School

NotebookLM takes another step toward being the do-it-all AI tool for work and school.

Since it launched, NotebookLM has been aimed at students. While just about anyone can use the AI tool to some benefit, it’s a great study buddy thanks to an assortment of features for the classroom. But a promising new feature may help with your next work presentation: Slides.

Powered by Gemini, NotebookLM can help you brainstorm ideas and generate audio or video overviews. That sounds like most AI tools, but NotebookLM is different. You can provide it with your own material — documents, websites, YouTube videos and more — and it’ll only use those sources to answer your questions and generate content. Adding a slide generator to such a tool would be a solid, professional power-up.

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Google already has its own slide deck creation tool, but NotebookLM could make it even easier to create them. Using your uploaded sources and the recently integrated Nano Banana image generator, the ability to create a slide deck on the fly could soon be on its way.

The tech and AI tool-focused site Testing Catalog recently spotted an unreleased and incomplete Slide tool. Not all of the features seem to be available, but it’d be easy to assume you’ll be able to create a slide deck based on your uploaded documents with just a few clicks. It’ll also likely allow you to further customize the deck by giving NotebookLM specific instructions and topics within your sources to focus on.

That’s not all, though. Another, similar feature might also be on the way. Also spotted was an option to generate an infographic — allowing you to create a visual chart or image based on your data sources. We’ll have to wait and see when either of these features goes live, but NotebookLM remains a robust tool that has little competition, and I expect it’ll only get better.