Why Google employees don't react to US antitrust case

On Tuesday, Google employees gathered for an all-hands meeting called TGIF. Although such company-wide meetings are rarely held on Fridays these days, the name stuck.

Executives shared highlights from recent earnings reports and cloud computing conferences, and warned employees against taking disruptive actions following internal protests over cloud computing contracts with Israel.

But according to two employees, no one attending the meeting was interested in the topic that could have a dramatic impact on Google: the landmark antitrust case with the Justice Department that is finally coming to an end this week. He said he did not bring up the matter.

For eight months, technology policy experts have been trying to predict how Google's wins or losses will affect the power of America's big tech companies, while Google employees have been trying to predict how their fight against antitrust law will affect the company's power. Interviews with more than a dozen current and recent employees revealed what they've largely ignored. requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss legal matters.

Even among Google's outspoken employees, the legal risks facing the company have become background noise. The company has been one of Silicon Valley's apex predators for two decades, and employees have grown accustomed to Google slipping past regulatory oversight. Why would we expect something different this time?

They added that a more immediate threat to Google is the competitive threat posed by Microsoft and OpenAI, the maker of the ChatGPT chatbot. (The New York Times reported that in December, he sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems.)

Closing arguments in the case begin Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and are scheduled to last two days. The Justice Department took aim at Google's search business, alleging that the company illegally expanded its monopoly by entering into default search agreements with browser makers such as Apple and Mozilla. Google argued that the deal was legal and that its innovations were increasing competition, not reducing it.

Google spokesman Peter Schottenfels said in a statement that the Justice Department's lawsuit is deeply flawed.

Mr. Schottenfels said the company's employees know that the company faces intense competition every day. That's why we focus on developing innovative and useful products that people choose to use.

On Thursday, Judge Amit P. Mehta weighed in on the Justice Department and Google's arguments in court. He pressed on the Justice Department's argument that Google's market power hinders the innovation and consumer quality of its search engine.

Judge Mehta said he was at a loss as to how one could come to factual findings such as “Google hasn't done enough'' and “Google's products have deteriorated over a decade.''

He also questioned Google's claims that it faces competition from sites like Amazon, where consumers search for prices and other results when shopping, and said the public should understand the differences between Google and Amazon. He said that he would understand.

The matter will soon be referred to Judge Mehta for judgment. If Google loses, there could be a number of ramifications. Google could be forced to make some changes to its business practices or face a ban on the types of default contracts that helped popularize its search engine. The Justice Department could also require Google to divest one of its search distribution platforms, such as the Chrome browser or Android mobile operating system. Although this is a drastic outcome, it is unlikely.

For more than a decade, Google has posted significant revenue and profit growth, even as it faces fines and government lawsuits in Europe and elsewhere. That made any legal dispute seem like a cost of doing business to some employees, two of the people said.

Google employees have been taught to avoid talking or writing about lawsuits. The company always tells its employees to be careful in their communications, as stated in an internal document reviewed by the Times. In other words, what you write can become embarrassing evidence in court.

When an employee in Google's advertising department recently mentioned a news story about an antitrust lawsuit in the office, his colleagues shook their heads and “we don't talk about it,” the person said.

But lawsuits happen all the time. Over the past six months, Google has been steadily resolving lawsuits and closing privacy, patent, and antitrust claims against the company. Since these lawsuits did not cause major changes, some employees believe that this lawsuit is no exception.

When employees talk about the Justice Department lawsuit, one of the company's arguments is that the allegations against Google Search are outdated, especially as the technology industry rushes to develop artificial intelligence systems that could change the search market. It's happening again and again, two people familiar with the matter said.

Some employees expect the legal hype surrounding the raids will ultimately result in adjustments and small fines for small businesses, two people said.

Former Federal Trade Commission Chairman William Kovacic says that despite employee trust, companies targeted for antitrust violations often lose ground, citing IBM and Microsoft as examples. said in an interview. He said he expects Google to have a similar experience.

Kovacic, who now teaches competition at George Washington University, said the lawsuit could make the company a little more cautious about how it operates. In a way, they feel like they've already lost. It will never be the same.

Google executives expected employees to ignore the Justice Department's lawsuit. When the lawsuit was filed in fall 2020, the company's CEO Sundar Pichai told employees to stay focused on work and avoid distractions.

In the years since then, Mr. Pichai has typically not mentioned the lawsuit and downplayed it when addressing employees at all-hands meetings, three people familiar with the matter said. The company then reiterated the need for silence, sending an email to employees asking them not to discuss the matter publicly or with the press, two people familiar with the matter said.

Recently, another issue has received more attention from workers. Memegen, a forum that serves as a virtual water fountain for Google, is discussing ongoing layoffs, job relocation to India and an Israeli cloud deal known as “Project Nimbus” that led to Google layoffs, according to one person familiar with the matter. Commenters are reportedly continuing to discuss topics such as the protests against. If he disrupts and occupies the workspace, he has 50 participants.

Pichai said Tuesday that it's okay for employees to disagree on sensitive topics, but they can't cross the line.

It's a business, he said.

David McCabe and Cecilia Kang contributed reporting from Washington.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/03/technology/google-employees-antitrust-trial.html The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

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