Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai testified in federal court Wednesday that a Justice Department proposal that would force Google to share its search data, including with competitors, would be a “de facto divestiture” of the company’s search engine, which took decades of investment and innovation to build.
He called the Justice Department’s proposal “so far-reaching, so extraordinary” that it feels as though the government is asking for a sell-off of the company’s core intellectual property. He said it’s unclear how Google could go on to fund innovation if its work is to be given away at marginal cost.
Pichai, 52, addressed the court from the witness box wearing a neat, dark suit during the second week of the remedies trial that will determine which penalties U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta will levy against the nearly $2 trillion company. Almost a year ago, Mehta ruled that Google had acted illegally to maintain a monopoly on the search engine market…