Google's AI Explains Google's Monopolistic Practices in Great Detail
On Tuesday, Google announced its release of Bard, the company’s version of a large language model (LLM) chatbot, to a limited number of users. In a blog accompanying the announcement, it asked users to try the AI and provide feedback. The company warned that Bard can get some things wrong because LLMs “learn from a wide range of information that reflects real-world biases and stereotypes.”
It is true that these AI models reflect large swaths of data that we, as Internet users, have generated, and perhaps that’s why when Bard was asked if it would side with the Justice Department or Google in the lawsuit against Google for monopolizing digital advertising technologies, it said: “I would side with the Justice Department in this case.”
“Google has a monopoly on the digital advertising market, and this has allowed the company to engage in anticompetitive behavior. Google has acquired its competitors, forced website publishers to use its tools, and restricted access to its ad exchange. These actions have harmed consumers and stifled innovation in the digital advertising market,” the automated system wrote when prompted by Jane Manchum Wong, who posted a screenshot of the exchange on Twitter. “The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google is an important step in protection competition and ensuring that consumers have access to a fair and open market. I hope the court will find in favor of the Justice Department and order Google to take steps to break up its monopoly.”
Motherboard tested Bard with the same prompt and the chatbot provided us with a similar response: “Based on the information I have found, it seems that the Justice Department has a strong case against Google. Google has been accused of using its dominant position in the digital advertising market to stifle competition and harm consumers. If these allegations are true, then Google should be held accountable for its actions.”
“Ultimately, it is up to the courts to decide who is right in this case. However, I believe that the Justice Department has made a strong case against Google and that the company should be held accountable for its actions if these allegations are true,” Google’s AI concluded.
The Justice Department sued Google in late January of this year, in its second lawsuit since 2020. A previous lawsuit, filed in October 2020, alleged that Google had maintained an unlawful monopoly in the search engine market. This most recent lawsuit alleged that Google had engaged in anticompetitive conduct that eliminated ad tech competitors through acquisitions and forced publishers and advertisers to use its products for the last fifteen years.
“The complaint filed today alleges a pervasive and systemic pattern of misconduct through which Google sought to consolidate market power and stave off free-market competition,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said in a press release. “In pursuit of outsized profits, Google has caused great harm to online publishers and advertisers and American consumers. This lawsuit marks an important milestone in the Department’s efforts to hold big technology companies accountable for violations of the antitrust laws.”
At the end of February, The Justice Department said that Google destroyed written records that were needed for the 2020 lawsuit by setting employee chats to auto-delete, even though it promised it would preserve records required for litigation. Google has since denied destroying evidence and said it made “reasonable” efforts to preserve communication records.