Google Said to Face DOJ Probe Over Character.AI Deal-OxBig News Network

The US Justice Department is probing whether or not Alphabet’s Google violated antitrust legislation in its settlement with Character.AI that permits the tech large to make use of the AI startup’s know-how, Bloomberg Law reported on Thursday.

Antitrust enforcers have lately instructed Google they’re analyzing whether or not the corporate structured the settlement with Character.AI to keep away from formal authorities merger scrutiny, the report stated, citing individuals with data of the matter. 

Google final yr signed a licensing take care of Character.AI that granted the search engine large a non-exclusive license to the chatbot maker’s massive language mannequin know-how. 

The firm additionally employed Character.AI co-founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, each former Google workers. 

“We’re at all times blissful to reply any questions from regulators,” a Google spokesperson stated. “We’re excited that expertise from Character.AI joined the corporate however we now have no possession stake they usually stay a separate firm.”

Character.AI didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark, whereas the DOJ declined to remark.

The DOJ can scrutinise whether or not the deal itself is anti-competitive even when it didn’t require a proper evaluation, the report stated, including the antitrust probe was within the early phases and will not result in an enforcement motion.

Other tech giants have struck comparable offers up to now yr of their push for development within the heated generative AI race. 

Microsoft struck a $650 million (roughly Rs. 5,569 crore) take care of Inflection AI in March 2024, to make use of the AI startup’s fashions and rent its workers, whereas Amazon employed AI agency Adept’s co-founders and a few of its workforce final June. Both offers had drawn regulatory scrutiny. 

Google is already beneath strain from regulators, with the DOJ looking for to interrupt up the corporate’s dominance within the on-line search market and in digital promoting know-how in two separate instances.

Earlier this month, the US Federal Trade Commission backed the DOJ’s proposal to make Google share search knowledge with rivals.

© Thomson Reuters 2025

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