DOJ’s Case Against Google Is Hit By A Search Of Jony Ive Or 11/30/2022

Legendary technology designer Jony Ive’s io was purchased last week for $6.5 billion. Reporting on the deal, the Wall Street Journal noted how the acquirer of io “has transformed how consumers seek information.” Which means the buyer has to be Google, right?

Really, who else in search would have the means to make such a substantial purchase, and who else is transforming “how consumers seek information”? It would have to be Google in consideration of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) charges against it. The DOJ claims Google has a monopoly on search through its popular Chrome.

The news about Ive and his company’s splashily announced acquisition all sounds so simple and logical, but for one thing. io wasn’t purchased by Google.

As most know by now, the buyer is OpenAI, the same company that the Wall Street Journal describes as having “transformed how consumers seeks information.” Well yes, OpenAI has most certainly transformed how consumers seek information.

Evidence supporting the above claim can be found not just at OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but in searches at a myriad of other engines including, yes, Google’s. Useful as Google has long been, and it’s been incredibly useful as evidenced by its coveted stature as a noun, verb and adjective, Google has become even better in the past couple of years. Much better.

Not only do searches on it yield the kind of results that have made it the default search engine for so many around the world, searches since November 30, 2022 have vastly improved and frequently include information laid out in easy-to-read essay form. Notable about the change in the quality of Google searches is that it’s coincided with the rollout of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a rollout that most certainly “transformed how consumers seek information.” Which is the point, or should be.

Except that it’s not, at least in Washington, D.C. While Google, OpenAI, Perplexity, DeepSeek, and all manner of other search/information locales work feverishly to discover an internet, search and work future that changes by the day, the DOJ operates as though it’s Chrome and no one else.

Except that if there were any truth to what the DOJ contends, readers can rest assured that there wouldn’t be any news about OpenAI purchasing the business of the technology world’s foremost designer for $6.5 billion. Businesses have shareholders, and shareholders are loathe to part with billions to compete in sectors rendered impenetrable by monopoly.

Notable here is that if Google itself had monopoly power over search as the DOJ contends, then it’s safe to say that it wouldn’t have purchased Ive’s business either. Really, why spend billions on enhancements in a search space that is already locked down as is?

One guesses readers get it. And they do because OpenAI’s acquisition of io really isn’t very complicated. It’s a signal that contra the DOJ and its antitrust division, the market for search isn’t just competitive, but wildly so. If you’re skeptical, just ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Perplexity, or yes, simply Google “November 30, 2022.”