- Perplexity's CEO said breaking up Google is a mistake — the real issue is Android's default services.
- The DOJ wants to break up Google after ruling that it has a monopoly in search.
- Perplexity, an AI search rival, says "more consumer choice" on Android is the fix.
Perplexity may be taking on Google in search, but its CEO doesn't want the tech giant to be broken up as part of the DOJ's landmark antitrust case.
Aravind Srinivas said in an X post Monday that his company has been asked to testify in the remedy phase of the DOJ's case, which comes after a judge ruled in August that Google had violated antitrust rules to maintain a monopoly in search.
Srinivas said he intends to testify that "Chrome should remain within and continue to be run by Google," but that Android should become "more open to consumer choice."
He said Perplexity's own upcoming browser, Comet, is built on Chromium — the open-source framework Google created.
"We don't believe anyone else can run a browser at that scale without a hit on quality, nor the business model to be able to serve that many users profitably by keeping the browser free," Srinivas wrote.
However, in the same posts, he took issue with Android, the open-source operating system owned by Google.
Srinivas said phone makers are forced to use a Google-approved version of Android to access apps like the Play Store and Maps, which means setting Google services as defaults.
That limits consumer choice, he said, and blocks alternatives like Perplexity's AI assistant. Perplexity, founded in 2022, fields over 100 million search queries each week, Srinivas said in October.
Google has paid billions, including $20 billion to Apple, to be the default search provider on smartphones, according to court documents.
"The remedy that is right in our opinion," Srinivas continued on X, "is not a breakup of Google, but rather offering consumers the choice to pick their defaults on Android without feeling the risk of a loss in revenue."
Proposed remedies include splitting off Chrome or Android, ending search revenue-sharing deals, or requiring Google to share search data with competitors. Google has said it will appeal.
A second DOJ case, focused on Google's dominance in digital advertising, also moved into the remedy phase this week.
Google did not immediately respond to a Business Insider request for comment.
