2025-12-06T01:18:42.070Z
- A federal judge has ordered Google to limit contracts for its default search and AI apps to one year.
- The ruling follows a 2024 ruling that Google illegally monopolized the online search market.
- The decision is aimed at boosting competition from rivals in search apps and generative AI.
The judge opens the door to overturning Google's dominance as the default search on mobile phones.
A federal judge on Friday ordered Google to limit all contracts for its default search and AI apps to one year, a setback for the long-term contracts that have cemented the company's dominance on billions of devices.
The ruling, detailed in a December 2025 ruling, requires Alphabet Inc.'s Google to annually renegotiate all default placement agreements, including favorable deals with manufacturers such as Apple's iPhone and Samsung.
Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said following a landmark 2024 ruling that Google had an illegal monopoly on online search and search advertising, enforcing antitrust remedies requires “a categorical one-year termination requirement.”
The decision is intended to open the door for rivals, especially fast-moving generative AI companies, to vie for the default spot, which has historically been held for years at a time. This builds on a separate order in September that required Google to share some of the data behind its search rankings with competitors.
Google will still be able to pay default listing fees to device manufacturers, but annual renegotiation rules will severely limit its ability to secure long-term control of the search market.
The ruling comes as Google faces increasing pressure from OpenAI and a wave of new challengers in the AI race. OpenAI recently released its own browser Atlas with a ChatGPT-based interface. Other AI-powered browsers could also earn a spot as Google's default browser, including Perplexity AI's Comet, Microsoft's Edge with integration with Copilot AI, and the relatively new Opera One browser, which has a built-in AI assistant called Aria.
Google plans to appeal several antitrust decisions, including decisions regarding Play Store practices and search dominance. In September, the company narrowly avoided being ordered to sell its Chrome browser as a remedy for a judgment.
Google and the Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment.
