The Justice Department ends its attempt to make Google sell its AI

Google light signage

On Friday, the US Department of Justice ended its bid to make Google sell off its stakes in Anthropic.

The government, which won a crucial antitrust ruling against Google's illegal monopoly in its search engine business in August, is still seeking to break up the company, one of the world’s largest firms. But it will now focus on trying to force Google to sell off its web browser Chrome.

In addition to its own in-house AI development, spurred by the 2014 acquisition of the British lab DeepMind, Google has in recent years invested $3 billion in Anthropic, which makes the chatbot Claude. That’s good for a 10% stake in the OpenAI competitor. Anthropic told the judge that losing Google’s investment would hand a strategic advantage to OpenAI and its main investor Microsoft. Google is not the only Silicon Valley investor in the firm; Amazon has also invested $8 billion in the startup.

More from GZERO Media

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 17, 2025.

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

A federal judge set up a showdown with the Trump administration on Wednesday with a ruling that threatens to find the government in contempt if it fails to comply with a judicial order to provide due process to Venezuelans deported to a prison in El Salvador.

Gavin Newsom speaks at the Vogue World: Hollywood Announcement at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, CA on March 26, 2025.
Photo by Corine Solberg/Sipa USA

California governor Gavin Newsom kicked off a campaign to promote Canadian tourism in his state, pitching its sunny beaches, lush vineyards, and world-class restaurants.

An employee checks filled capsules inside a Cadila Pharmaceutical company manufacturing unit at Dholka town on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, April 12, 2025.
REUTERS/Amit Dave

Donald Trump’s administration announced that it is opening investigations into pharmaceutical and semiconductor supply chains, which will likely result in tariffs that will hurt suppliers in Europe, India, and Canada.

Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party speaks after Democrat Josh Stein won the North Carolina governor's race, in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S., November 5, 2024.
REUTERS/Jonathan Drake

As the Democrats start plotting their fight back into power in the 2026 midterms, one issue has come up again and again.

People gather after Friday prayers during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Amman, Jordan, on April 4, 2025.
REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak

Jordanian authorities announced on Wednesday the arrest of 16 people accused of planning terrorist attacks inside Jordan. The country’s security services say the suspects had been under surveillance since 2021, and half a dozen of them were reportedly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Islamist organization.