The US government wants to prove that Google’s competitors face too many barriers to entry as part of an antitrust case against the tech giant. So, it was ChaptGPT’s head of product, Nick Turley, to testify as a witness in the hope that it would help strengthen the case. In a landmark ruling last August, the court determined that Google has a monopoly on search. While Google appealed this decision, the Department of Justice is now asking the court to decide what punishment it should face, such as rolling Chrome or a 10-year ban on releasing any browser products. To add to the case, the DOJ has pulled in various Google competitors like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Perplexity. They want certain executives, such as Perplexity Business Head Dmitry Shevelenko, to testify. (It’s not clear whether Shevelenko will do so. Perplexity did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) A new legal filing confirms that OpenAI’s top executive, Nick Turley, head of product for ChatGPT, will testify as a witness in the US government’s case. “Mr. Turley was the witness selected by the Plaintiff [the DOJ] to testify on behalf of OpenAI,” Google’s lawyers wrote in a January 16 legal filing. “Mr. Turley is an OpenAI witness who will testify on behalf of the government at the Evidence Hearing,” read more from January 16. Neither filing specifies when Turley will testify. Turley is expected to be questioned by the US about “AI’s generative relationship with Search Access Points, distribution, barriers to entry and expansion, and data sharing,” per the filing. The DOJ has not yet released details on what it intends to ask Turley about. (This is the same topic that CBO Perplexity wanted to ask about.) The DOJ uses the term “search access point” to refer to products like Google Chrome that people use to search the web. Notably, in October 2024, ChatGPT launched its own AI search browser. To prepare itself for Turley’s testimony, Google has subpoenaed OpenAI for documents related to the case. But the two companies are currently in a heated dispute over the extent of evidence OpenAI should provide. In a January 16 legal filing, Google criticized OpenAI for producing “surprising documents.” OpenAI’s lawyers argued back, saying that Google’s request for documents from top executives like CEO Sam Altman appeared to be a “Trojan horse intended to harass OpenAI executives.” OpenAI has agreed to share some documents from Turley’s work files about OpenAI’s strategy on AI products, integration of AI into search-related products, and Microsoft partnerships, a letter from OpenAI’s lawyers showed. Google said it needed more documents from other executives, because relying on Turley “would prejudice Google” because Turley was a witness “self-selected” by the US government, according to the filing. Google also wants documents from OpenAI that preceded the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, claiming it “could undermine Mr. Turley’s testimony about barriers to entry in a way that post-launch documents would not.” But OpenAI says the old document “cannot represent” the current AI landscape. Both sides appear to be at an impasse and OpenAI has asked the court to reject the full scope of evidence requested by Google. OpenAI and Google did not respond to requests for comment. The DOJ declined to comment. TechCrunch has an AI-focused newsletter! Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.
