Apple’s top executives are likely to play a role in the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit against Google, and management will be the subject of evidence before the search giant’s trial. It is reported that the DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in October 2020, alleging that the tech giant has abused its power in the Internet search industry. Apple’s leadership appears to be part of the lawsuit as it prepares for the trial.
According to Reuters, at a pretrial hearing on Friday, Steven Sunshine told the court on behalf of Apple that the DOJ had requested testimony from Apple’s “top management.” However, Sunshine also admitted that it was not clear what the DOJ wanted from Apple.
The lawsuit concerns Google’s attempt to maintain its position as the dominant search company, using arrangements with device and software vendors to ensure it becomes the default search option offered to consumers.
In Apple’s case, Google has reportedly paid the company billions to maintain its default search location in the iOS version of Safari. Neither Google nor Apple has disclosed any details of the deal, although analysts estimate the 2021 payment to be around $15 billion.
At present, the trial date of the lawsuit has been set for September 12, 2023. The DOJ is conducting multiple investigations into Google and Apple’s alleged antitrust activities.
In December, however, funding concerns related to the Build Back Better Social Spending Act proposal delayed discussions of further antitrust complaints until March or later.
The DOJ’s complaint isn’t the only one about Google paying Apple. The class-action lawsuit filed in January alleges that the payments deal violated U.S. antitrust law because Apple allegedly agreed to give up on developing its own search engine.