The Department of Justice and attorneys general from 35 states filed appeals in February challenging the September 2025 federal court ruling that found Google operated an illegal search monopoly but declined to order the sale of its Chrome browser. [1] The appeals, filed with the D.C. Circuit Court, target the remedies phase of the case — specifically, Judge Amit Mehta's decision that data-sharing requirements and default search restrictions were sufficient to restore competition without a structural breakup.

The government's core argument: data-sharing alone will not undo a monopoly built on two decades of distribution dominance. The DOJ's cross-appeal specifically seeks reconsideration of the Chrome divestiture that Mehta rejected, arguing the browser is the gateway through which Google maintains its default search advantage. [2]

A new complication has emerged. Reports of negotiations between Apple and Google to integrate Google's Gemini AI model into iPhones have drawn scrutiny from antitrust regulators. The existing $20 billion annual payment Google makes to Apple for default search placement was central to the original monopoly finding. An AI deal on similar terms would effectively reproduce the monopoly structure the case was supposed to dismantle — this time in AI rather than traditional search. [2]

Google must share search data with competitors under Mehta's existing order. The company has said it will appeal the entire ruling. The case could take years to resolve, during which the market it concerns will have been reshaped by AI in ways no court order anticipated.

-- DAVID CHEN, Beijing