Google CEO Sundar Pichai predicts the antitrust battle will take years

“It’s going to take time to play out,” Pichai said in an interview for an upcoming episode of The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations. “Where we believe it truly harms our ability to innovate on behalf of our users, we will be vigorous in our defense.”

Google is embroiled in two separate antitrust lawsuits brought by the US Department of Justice that allege the tech leader illegally dominates the digital advertising market and online search. The lawsuit over the ads began in court this month. In the search case, which Google lost, Judge Amit Mehta said he plans to resolve the final issues by August.

“We certainly don’t agree with the ruling, but it’s still in the middle of the remedial phase,” Pichai told Rubenstein, referring to the part of the legal process where a court determines the solution to Google’s market dominance. “You know, we’re going to appeal and that process will probably take many years.”

The government’s timeline for legal action contrasts with particularly rapid changes in the tech industry, which the Justice Department is taking into account as part of its analysis. Already, Google is working quickly to develop a strong position in artificial intelligence. By the time both current cases are over, the industry will have evolved dramatically.

It could be months before Judge Leonie Brinkema makes a decision in the ad case, which claims Google violated antitrust law by building a monopoly over web advertising technology. If the government wins, it aims to break up the company and force it to sell some of its assets. Google is likely to appeal the decision, arguing that it competed fairly against rivals like Facebook and Amazon.com Inc. from Meta Platforms Inc.

To explain how long appeals can take, Pichai pointed to Google’s victory against a 1.5 billion euro ($1.7 billion) antitrust fine at the European Union’s General Court last week — more than four years after what was perceived.

“With our scale and size, I think scrutiny is inevitable,” Pichai said. “And I’m confident, given our focus on innovation using technology, we’ll do well in the long run.”

For the full interview with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, watch “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations” on Wednesday, October 9 on Bloomberg Television at 9:00 p.m. New York time.

(Add Pichai quote in last paragraph.)