Breaking up Google is an option being considered by the US

The U.S. Justice Department is considering options that include breaking up Alphabet Inc.’s Google, a week after a judge ruled that the tech giant illegally monopolized the internet search market, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

Shares of the Californian company fell 1.4% in the afternoon session.

The verdict, released last week, found that Google violated antitrust law by spending billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly and become the world’s default search engine. The ruling is seen as the first major federal victory in the fight against Big Tech’s market dominance.

Other options being considered by the Justice Department include forcing Google to share data with competitors and introducing measures to prevent Google from gaining an unfair advantage in AI-based products, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

One of the solutions most frequently discussed by Justice Department lawyers was to strip them of the Android operating system, the report said.

Officials were also reportedly considering trying to force a possible sale of AdWords, Google’s search engine advertising program, as well as a possible divestiture of the Chrome web browser.

Federal antitrust regulators have sued Meta Platforms, Amazon.com and Apple over the past four years, alleging the companies illegally maintained monopolies.

In 2004, Microsoft reached a settlement with the Department of Justice over allegations that it forced its Internet Explorer web browser on Windows users.

Alphabet and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.