Judge Mehta’s decision to spare Google a breakup over Chrome and Android may have leaned heavily on the “disruption of AI.” But not everyone is convinced that’s enough to level the playing field.
Sean Burke, founding partner at Whistler Partners, called the ruling “a huge win for Big Tech.” To him, the logic that AI will keep Google in check is wishful thinking. “Google is so far ahead of everybody with their search that whatever they create as their custom AI search only has to be like 50% to 70% as good as a competitor, and they'll still dominate,” Burke said.
The ruling, in his view, signals continuity—not disruption. “ChatGPT created a teeny opening where maybe Google can finally be challenged, and the judge thinks that's enough reason to not break up this monopoly they have. It’s ludicrous. They've been dominating for so long, and are so far ahead of everybody on search that there's no guarantee that this will give anybody even a teeny edge over Google.”