Google’s Pichai Says US Fix Is ‘De Facto’ Spinoff of Search (1)

Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai told a judge who found that Google illegally monopolizes online search that a Justice Department proposal to share search data with rivals would be a “de facto” divestiture of the company’s search engine.

If Google were required to share both its search data and the information on how it ranks results, rivals could reverse-engineer “every aspect of our technology,” Pichai testified on Wednesday.

“The proposal on data sharing is so far-reaching, so extraordinary,” Pichai said. It “feels like de facto divestiture of search” and its entire intellectual property and technology over 25 years ...