The US government is seeking to prove that Google’s competitors face overwhelming barriers to entry as part of its antitrust case against the tech giant. So he’s turning to ChaptGPT’s head of product, Nick Turley, to testify as a witness in the hopes of helping strengthen his case.
In a landmark ruling last August, the court found that Google had a monopoly on search. Although Google is appealing the decision, the Justice Department is now asking the court to decide what penalties it should face, such as spinning off Chrome or a 10-year ban on releasing any browser.
To strengthen its case, the Justice Department brought in various Google competitors such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Perplexity. He wants specific executives to testify, such as Perplexity’s chief business officer Dmitry Shevelenko. (It is not yet clear whether Shwelenko will do this. Perplexity did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
Recent legal filings confirm that OpenAI CEO Nick Turley, head of product at ChatGPT, will testify as a witness in the US government case.
“Mr. Turley is the witness chosen by the Plaintiffs [the DOJ] testify on behalf of OpenAI,” Google lawyers wrote in a January 16 statement legal filing.
“Mr. Turley is an OpenAI witness who will testify on behalf of the government at the evidentiary hearing.” another report he has been reading since January 16.
None of the documents specify exactly when Turley will testify. Turley is expected to be asked by the United States about “generative AI’s relationship to search access points, distribution, barriers to entry and expansion, and data sharing.” according to notification. The Justice Department did not provide details on what it wanted to ask Turley. (These are the exact same topics CBO Perplexity wants to ask about.)
The Department of Justice uses the term “search access points” to refer to products like Google Chrome that people exploit to search the Internet. Notably, in October 2024, ChatGPT launched its own AI search browser.
To prepare for Turley’s testimony, Google subpoenaed OpenAI for documents related to the case. However, the two companies are currently in a heated disagreement over the scope of evidence OpenAI should provide.
In a legal filing On January 16, Google criticized OpenAI for producing “a surprisingly small number of documents.” OpenAI lawyers responded by noting that Google’s demands for documents from top executives such as CEO Sam Altman appear to be a “Trojan horse designed to harass OpenAI executives.”
OpenAI has agreed to share certain documents from Turley’s work files regarding OpenAI’s AI product strategy, its integration of artificial intelligence with search products, and its partnership with Microsoft, letter from OpenAI lawyer shows.
Google says it needs more documents from more executives because relying heavily on Turley “would be to Google’s detriment” because Turley is a witness “selected” by the U.S. government, according to registration.
Google also wants OpenAI documents from before the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, affirmatively they may “undermine Mr. Turley’s evidence regarding barriers to entry in a way that post-marketing documents would not.” However, OpenAI says the ancient documents “cannot meaningfully represent” the current AI landscape.
The two sides are 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 Justice Department declined to comment.