<div id="readability-page-1"><div><div>On Friday, a federal judge signaled he may scale back the Justice Department's proposed remedies for Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google's alleged search monopoly, citing the fast-changing role of artificial intelligence in online search.What Happened: U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, presiding over the high-profile antitrust case, expressed skepticism about imposing a 10-year oversight plan that would force Google to share search data and stop paying Apple Inc. AAPL and others to be the default search engine, reported Reuters.&#34;Ten years may seem like a short period, but in this space, a lot can change in weeks,&#34; Mehta said, referring to ChatGPT-maker OpenAI's decision to buy Jony Ive's startup to build AI devices. He added that future competition may not come from traditional search rivals like Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT Bing or DuckDuckGo, but from AI companies offering fundamentally different user experiences.&#34;If anything, it's going to be one of these AI companies that can do more than just search. And Why? Because maybe people don't want 10 blue links anymore,&#34; Mehta said.Google's lawyer John Schmidtlein pushed back on the idea of giving AI rivals access to Google's proprietary data, arguing, &#34;Coming to Google and asking Google for a handout when they are the market leader seems completely disproportionate to what this case is about.&#34;Previously, Nick Turley, OpenAI’s product head for ChatGPT, testified that the AI startup would be open to acquiring Chrome if Google were ever compelled to sell it.Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox.Why It's Important: Earlier this month, Apple executive Eddy Cue testified that Safari had seen a drop in search volumes for the first time in over 20 years, attributing the decline to the growing use of AI-powered searches.Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai pushed back on this in an interview with The Verge published this week, asserting that the data does not indicate a decline in overall activity. “We’ve been very clear. We’re seeing overall query growth in search,” he said.During his testimony, Cue also revealed that Apple is actively considering integrating an AI-driven search engine into Safari, evaluating potential partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity AI.Meanwhile, Google introduced a new “AI mode” in its Search and Chrome browser during its developer conference. Now available to all U.S. users, the feature offers a conversational, Q&amp;A-style interface similar to ChatGPT, replacing the traditional list of search result links.Price Action: Alphabet Inc.’s Class A shares dipped 0.32% in after-hours trading, with Class C shares also down 0.32%, based on Benzinga Pro data.According to Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings, Alphabet holds a growth score of 88.54%. Click here to compare it with other companies like Apple.Check out more of Benzinga’s Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.<ul> <li>Mark Zuckerberg Warns Of ‘Serious Disadvantage' As China's Data-Center Blitz Could Let DeepSeek Leapfrog US AI Labs</li> </ul>Photo courtesy: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com</div></div></div>

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A federal judge is reconsidering the Justice Department's proposed remedies for Google's alleged search monopoly, suggesting a lighter approach due to the rapid evolution of AI in online search. Judge Amit Mehta expressed doubts about a 10-year oversight plan, noting that competition may increasingly come from AI companies rather than traditional search engines. Meanwhile, Google has introduced an AI mode in its search and Chrome browser, and Alphabet's shares saw a slight decline in after-hours trading.

- A federal judge indicated a potential reduction in the Justice Department's proposed remedies for Google's alleged search monopoly, highlighting the rapid evolution of AI in online search.  
- Judge Amit Mehta expressed doubts about a 10-year oversight plan, suggesting that future competition may arise from AI companies rather than traditional search engines.  
- Meanwhile, Google has launched an "AI mode" in its Search and Chrome browser, reflecting the shift towards AI-driven search experiences.

Google's Monopoly Case Takes A Turn As Judge Considers Lighter Remedies Amid Rising Competition From AI Rivals Like OpenAI And Perplexity