America’s position as the global technology leader is more fragile than we care to admit: an uncomfortable, but necessary truth to confront. China, with its authoritarian disregard for caution and tradeoffs, is accelerating investments in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and frontier technologies—closing the gap faster than ever. And yet, instead of strengthening the companies that fuel our digital advantage, the U.S. government is threatening to dismantle them.
The Department of Justice’s antitrust crusade against Google is not just shortsighted—it threatens a key innovator that is bolstering the United States’ competitive edge on the world stage. In its zeal to appear tough on “Big Tech,” the DOJ is prioritizing punitive action over pragmatic policy, threatening to drag America toward the stagnant model of the European Union—a region that’s become a cautionary tale for overregulation.
Just look at the numbers. Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, pointed out last year that U.S. productivity has grown 6% since 2019. Europe? Just 0.6%. One major reason: regulatory suffocation. The Digital Markets Act (DMA), a suffocating regulatory framework that was instituted in 2023, has done no favors for the EU’s already lagging tech industry. As former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi bluntly put it, “the EU’s regulatory stance towards tech companies hampers innovation.”
Now, the DOJ wants to go even further than the DMA—proposing that Google disclose highly sensitive information that could expose consumer data, advertiser strategies and even de-anonymize users. In doing so, it risks weaponizing consumer data in a regulatory experiment that millions of Americans never signed up for. This isn’t just regulatory overreach—it’s a potential gift to bad-faith foreign actors already exploiting vulnerabilities in our digital infrastructure.
Let’s be clear: the United States distinguishes itself from authoritarian regimes like China not just by our innovation, but by our values—including privacy. Dismantling Google could compromise vast amounts of personal information currently safeguarded by one of the most secure systems available. If sensitive data is scattered among fragmented entities or handed off to less capable operators, that trust will be violated. At risk are our daily searches, ad bids that fuel small businesses and even the clicks we make.
If sensitive data is scattered among fragmented entities or handed off to less capable operators, that trust will be violated.
But the damage doesn’t stop with privacy. The ripple effects of the breakup DOJ is pursuing would hit the broader economy. Mozilla’s CFO has warned that barring Google from revenue-sharing could kill Firefox—hurting browser diversity and limiting consumer choice. Small and medium-sized businesses that choose Google’s AI tools and ad platforms would lose access to essential growth engines. Even more absurdly, the DOJ is floating the idea of paying consumers to use Bing—an inferior product that would be propped up by regulation, not innovation.
Forcing consumers to use less effective services doesn’t foster innovation. It merely punishes success and undermines choice. This isn’t how competition works. The DOJ’s proposed remedies favor laggard competitors, not everyday Americans.
Worse, they hand a strategic advantage to foreign rivals. China has been neck-and-neck with us in the critical AI race, and a massive disruption of a key American innovator in this field could spell a sure loss for us, dooming us to innovation stagnation like the EU’s regulators have sanctioned. China doesn’t need to out-innovate us if we’re willing to kneecap our own champions.
Google may not be perfect, but it is a company that consumers around the world choose and trust daily—one that invests billions in research, creates powerful tools and helps maintain America’s technological edge. To destabilize it now is to jeopardize that edge when we need it most.
This fight isn’t just about one company. It’s about whether America continues to lead the world in technology—or lets bureaucracy, ideology and misapplied antitrust theory sabotage that leadership. If we dismantle the engines of innovation under the illusion that we’re promoting fairness, we risk a descent into the same stagnation that has left Europe lagging and China looming.
Breaking up Google won’t serve consumers, spur better competition or make us safer. What it will do is signal to the world that the U.S. is willing to sacrifice our winners and values to prop up the government’s chosen favorites.
In this defining moment for American tech leadership, we must choose wisely. Let’s not win the battle against “big tech” only to lose the war for innovation.