U.S. judge rules: Google default app software contracts must be limited to one year.

A federal judge in the United States has ruled that Alphabet Inc.'s Google must renegotiate any contracts that make its search engine or artificial intelligence applications the default apps on smartphones and other devices on an annual basis. Judge Amit Mehta in Washington supported the Department of Justice's position on what changes Google must make in his final ruling. Previously, a landmark ruling found that Google illegally monopolized the online search market. The provision for annual renegotiation will allow competitors, especially those in the fast-growing field of generative artificial intelligence, to have the opportunity to compete for key advertising space. The final ruling still allows Google to provide its products to Apple for use on their popular iPhone, and to pay default advertising fees to other electronics manufacturers such as Samsung. However, the judge stated that these contracts must be renegotiated annually.