An additional seven states may join the Department of Justice’s landmark antitrust lawsuit filed against Alphabet Inc.’s Google in the coming weeks, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) announced Tuesday.
James, along with the attorneys general of Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah, said in the following joint statement regarding the DOJ’s suit against Google:
Over the last year, both the U.S. DOJ and state attorneys general have conducted separate but parallel investigations into Google’s anticompetitive market behavior. We appreciate the strong bipartisan cooperation among the states and the good working relationship with the DOJ on these serious issues. This is a historic time for both federal and state antitrust authorities, as we work to protect competition and innovation in our technology markets. We plan to conclude parts of our investigation of Google in the coming weeks. If we decide to file a complaint, we would file a motion to consolidate our case with the DOJ’s. We would then litigate the consolidated case cooperatively, much as we did in the Microsoft case.
James announced in September that she and multiple attorneys general would launch an investigation into Google for possible anticompetitive behavior. New York’s chief legal officer has also opened an inquiry targeting Facebook for potential antitrust concerns.
The Trump administration on Tuesday sued tech giant Google, claiming in a landmark case that it has used monopolistic powers to dominate Internet searches.
In a lawsuit joined by 11 states, the Justice Department accuses Google of violating the Sherman Act, which bars monopolistic business practices, by creating “continuous and self-reinforcing monopolies in multiple markets.”
“Two decades ago, Google became the darling of Silicon Valley as a scrappy startup with an innovative way to search the emerging Internet. That Google is long gone,” the suit states.
“The Google of today is a monopoly gatekeeper for the Internet, and one of the wealthiest companies on the planet, with a market value of $1 trillion and annual revenue exceeding $160 billion.”
The department says Google employs “anti-competitive practices” that are “especially pernicious because they deny rivals scale to compete effectively.”
The UPI contributed to this report.
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