Google Fights Back Against Court Order: “We Won’t Hand Our Data to ChatGPT and Competitors!”
Google just asked a federal judge to hit pause on a controversial ruling that would force the tech giant to share its closely guarded data with rivals—including ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. The company claims the decision completely misses one crucial point: people choose Google because they want to, not because anyone forces them.
The Monopoly Battle Heats Up
This legal showdown traces back to a bombshell 2024 ruling by District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington. He determined that Google deployed unlawful tactics to cement its dominance in online search. The judge found that exclusive distribution agreements made Google the “default” option across devices, giving the company an iron grip on both search and text advertising markets.
Google isn’t taking this lying down. The search giant has now escalated the fight to a federal appeals court, demanding a complete reversal of Mehta’s decision.
What Google Stands to Lose
In its latest court filing, Google argues that Judge Mehta overstepped by trying to “level the playing field” through data-sharing requirements. The company warns that complying with the order would expose valuable trade secrets to competitors—potentially including OpenAI—before appeals courts even review the case.
“The decision failed to account for the rapid pace of innovation and intense competition we face from established players and well-funded start-ups,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, wrote in a company blog post.
Google doubles down on its central argument: people use its search engine by choice, not coercion. The ruling, according to the company, completely “ignored the reality” of user behavior.
What Google Will (and Won’t) Do
The tech behemoth clarified that it won’t delay implementing other parts of Mehta’s orders, particularly those covering “privacy and security safeguards” for user data. However, the company draws a hard line at sharing its proprietary data or providing syndicated results and ads to competitors.
“Although Google believes that these remedies are unwarranted and should never have been imposed, it is prepared to do everything short of turning over its data or providing syndicated results and ads while its appeal is pending,” the company stated.
The Story Behind the Case
This legal drama has deep roots. The Justice Department launched the case back in 2020 during Donald Trump’s first presidency. After a trial in fall 2023, Judge Mehta delivered his landmark ruling in August 2024.
The core issue? Google’s lucrative contracts with Apple and smartphone manufacturers like Samsung. These deals—worth more than $20 billion annually—required Google’s search engine to serve as the default option on devices. Mehta concluded these agreements illegally locked out competitors from crucial distribution channels.
The Judge’s Latest Decision
Following a second trial in spring 2025, Judge Mehta made a surprising move. He rejected the Justice Department’s aggressive push to force Google to sell its Chrome browser.
Instead, Mehta crafted what he saw as a middle-ground solution. Google can still pay to make its search engine and apps the default option on devices. The catch? The company must rebid these contracts every single year, giving rivals regular chances to compete for those coveted default slots.
Now Google wants to freeze even these requirements while it fights the entire case in appeals court. The battle over who controls online search—and the data that comes with it—is far from over.
