WASHINGTON — Alphabet Inc.’s Google asked a federal judge Friday to pause a court-ordered plan to share some search data with rivals, including ChatGPT maker OpenAI, while the company presses a Google antitrust appeal of a ruling that found it held an illegal online search monopoly. Google says the disclosure would expose trade secrets and raise privacy risks that cannot be undone even if it later wins, Jan. 16, 2026.
The request, described in court papers cited by Reuters, asks U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta to stay only the remedies that would require Google to turn over data or provide syndicated search results and ads while its appeal is pending.
Google said it will comply with other restrictions, such as limiting some app-preloading contracts, including for its Gemini chatbot, to one year. But it argues that once search index and user-interaction data is shared, it cannot be retrieved — even if an appeals court later reverses the illegal-monopoly finding.
Google antitrust appeal: why the data-sharing mandate is the flash point
The data-sharing remedy is intended to help “qualified” competitors build or improve search products using Google’s information. With generative AI reshaping how people search, access could matter not only to traditional rivals but also to AI companies building chatbots and AI search tools.
Paused: sharing search index and user-interaction data, plus any required syndication of results and search-text ads.
Not paused: other limits on distribution contracts while the Google antitrust appeal proceeds.
In a blog post announcing the Google antitrust appeal, Google Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland said the court “ignored the reality that people use Google because they want to, not because they’re forced to,” and warned that forced disclosure would “risk Americans’ privacy.”
The Verge and Engadget both reported that a stay would delay the most consequential remedies while Google takes its case to the appeals court.
What happens next
Mehta has not ruled on the stay request. If he denies it, Google could be required to start sharing data while the appeal runs. If he grants it, those provisions would remain on hold until the appellate court decides the Google antitrust appeal.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states have until Feb. 3 to decide whether to appeal Mehta’s remedies ruling, which rejected proposals such as forcing Google to sell Chrome or end multibillion-dollar default search deals.
How the case got here
The lawsuit behind the current Google antitrust appeal began in October 2020, when federal and state enforcers accused Google of locking up key distribution channels for search. The allegations are summarized in a 2020 Justice Department release.
Mehta ruled in August 2024 that Google violated antitrust law by spending billions to secure default placement, according to Reuters’ report on the decision.
In September 2025, Mehta declined to order Google to sell Chrome or Android but required the company to share data with rivals to open competition in online search, as detailed in Reuters’ coverage of the remedies order.
The stay fight now puts one issue front and center: whether the Google antitrust appeal will be heard before Google has to share data it says is effectively impossible to take back.
