Google Hit With Renewed Antitrust Suit Over Voice Assistants

Alphabet Inc.'s Google was hit Tuesday with a renewed antitrust action alleging that the tech giant used its monopoly position in general search to set restrictive policies on voice assistants.

Sensory Inc., a Silicon Valley-based company that develops voice recognition technology, said that Google “constructed a series of artificial barriers” to prevent consumers from using voice assistants and “wakeword” software—which is the technology that triggers engagement from voice assistants—to access non-Google search engines. The lawsuit resurrects one originally filed in April 2022, which was dismissed under a tolling agreement to allow then-pending antitrust litigation against Google to play out.

The ...