ChatGPT’s product manager will testify in the US government’s case against Google

The US government wants to prove that Google’s competitors face huge barriers to entry as part of an antitrust case against the tech giant. So he hopes to testify as a witness to Nick Turley, head of product at ChaptGPT, to help strengthen his case.

In a remarkable place last August’s rulingthe court found that Google had a monopoly on search. While Google has appealed the decision, the Justice Department is now asking a court to decide what penalties it should face, such as It rotates from Chrome or a 10-year ban on the release of any browser product.

To bolster its case, the DOJ enlisted various Google competitors such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Perplexity. He wants special leaders, As Perplexity’s Chief Business OfficerDmitry Shevelenko, to testify. (It’s unclear whether Shevelenko will do so. Confusion did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

Recent legal documents confirm that OpenAI’s senior executive, ChatGPT product lead Nick Turley, will testify as a witness in the US government’s case.

“Mr. Turley is a witness selected by Plaintiffs (DOJ) to testify on behalf of OpenAI,” Google’s attorneys wrote on January 16. legal documentation.

“Mr. Turley is an OpenAI witness who will testify on behalf of the government at the evidentiary hearing. other documentation Read from January 16.

None of the documents specify when Turley will testify. Turley is expected to be asked by the US about “the relationship, distribution, barriers to entry and expansion, and data sharing of generative artificial intelligence with search access points.” according to the application. The DOJ did not elaborate on what it wanted to ask Turley. (These are the same topics wants to ask About Perplexity’s CBO.)

The DOJ uses the term “search access points” to refer to products like Google Chrome that people use to search the web. Note that in October 2024 ChatGPT is started own AI search browser.

In preparation for Turley’s testimony, Google subpoenaed OpenAI for documents related to the case. But the two companies are now at loggerheads over the extent of the evidence OpenAI must provide.

In a legal document On January 16, Google criticized OpenAI for producing a “surprisingly small number of documents”. OpenAI’s lawyers responded by saying that Google’s request for documents from top executives such as CEO Sam Altman appeared to be a “Trojan horse designed to harass OpenAI executives.”

OpenAI agreed to share some documents from Turley’s work files about OpenAI’s strategy for AI products, the integration of AI into search-related products, and the Microsoft partnership. a letter From the shows of OpenAI’s lawyers.

Google says it needs more documents from more administrators because it would “harm Google” to trust Turley because he was a witness “handpicked” by the US government. documentation.

Google is also asking for documentation from OpenAI before the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022. claims these “might undermine Mr. Turley’s testimony about barriers to entry in a way that post-trigger documents would not.” But OpenAI says the old documents “may not meaningfully represent” the current AI landscape.

The two sides appear to be at an impasse, and OpenAI has asked the court to reject the full scope of evidence Google has requested.

OpenAI and Google did not respond to requests for comment. The DOJ declined to comment.