Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) has one final chance on Friday to convince a federal judge to allow the company to retain control of its Chrome search engine as closing arguments in the government's antitrust court challenge were expected to conclude in the afternoon, according to multiple media reports.
Attorneys for the US Department of Justice argued earlier Friday that Google should be forced to sell Chrome and share data it collects from users with its rivals to resolve issues cited by US District Court Judge Amit Mehta last year when he ruled the company operates as a monopoly. The remedies phase of the antitrust trial started April 21, with Mehta previously saying he expects to issue his decision in about two months.
During the government's closing arguments, Mehta reportedly asked a Justice Department attorney if artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies can successfully challenge Google's dominance with online search and advertising if the company is allowed to hang on to Chrome, according to reports.
"Do you think someone is going to come off the sidelines and build a new general search engine in light of what we are seeing?" Mehta asked, according to a Reuters report.
Alphabet's attorneys are slated to begin their closing arguments Friday afternoon.
Shares were down about 1.2% in recent afternoon trade.
Price: 170.93, Change: -2.03, Percent Change: -1.17
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