The Justice Department, along with several states, is expected to request a federal court order late Wednesday to compel Google to divest Chrome, its widely used web browser, according to two individuals familiar with the matter. Such a move could significantly disrupt the $2 trillion tech giant’s business operations and transform the competitive landscape of the internet.

This request follows an August ruling by Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who determined that Google had unlawfully maintained a monopoly in online search. Judge Mehta directed the Justice Department and the states involved in the antitrust case to propose solutions by Wednesday to address this monopoly.

In addition to seeking Chrome’s sale, the government plans to urge Judge Mehta to prohibit Google from forming paid agreements with Apple and other companies to make Google the default search engine on smartphones and web browsers. They also propose that Google be required to share data with competitors, the sources added.

These proposed remedies represent some of the most substantial actions in a tech antitrust case since the Justice Department’s attempt to break up Microsoft in 2000. Should Judge Mehta approve these measures, it would set a precedent for other ongoing antitrust cases targeting major tech players such as Apple, Amazon, and Meta.

Forcing Google to sell Chrome would be one of the most damaging outcomes for the company. Chrome, offered for free, is the world’s most popular web browser and a key component of Google’s ecosystem, which encourages users to remain within its suite of products. Google’s search engine is tightly integrated into Chrome.

Google is scheduled to submit its own proposals to address the monopoly by December 20. Both parties can revise their submissions before Judge Mehta begins hearing arguments on the remedies in the spring, with a decision expected by late summer.

“This week, following reports about the government’s plans, Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president for regulatory affairs, commented, ‘The DOJ continues to push an extreme agenda that goes well beyond the scope of this case. These proposals would harm consumers, developers, and American technological innovation at a critical time.’”

The Justice Department declined to comment, while Bloomberg was the first to report some details of the government’s intentions.

In recent years, regulators have intensified efforts to curtail the dominance of major tech companies. The Justice Department has also initiated lawsuits against Google for its control of the ad tech market and against Apple for restricting consumer choice within its ecosystem. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission has sued Amazon and Meta, accusing them of anti-competitive practices and suppressing competition.

It remains uncertain whether these efforts will persist under President-elect Donald J. Trump. Some of the ongoing antitrust lawsuits began during his earlier administration.

The government’s success in the Google search monopoly case came after a 10-week trial last year. Prosecutors argued that Google locked out competitors by signing lucrative deals with Apple, Mozilla, Samsung, and others to make its search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers. In 2021 alone, Google paid $26.3 billion for such agreements, according to trial evidence.

These arrangements, the government contended, solidified Google’s dominance by ensuring high search traffic. The data collected further improved Google’s search engine, creating a cycle that kept users loyal.

In its defense, Google maintained that its agreements were legal, emphasizing that users preferred its search engine over alternatives like Microsoft’s Bing or DuckDuckGo due to superior performance.

Up until Wednesday’s deadline, the Justice Department and the states were still deliberating over the exact remedies to propose, according to three individuals familiar with the discussions.

Meanwhile, on Monday, another federal court will hear closing arguments in a separate antitrust trial against Google concerning advertising technology. This case is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.