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

The US government wants to prove that Google’s competitors face insurmountable barriers to entry as part of its antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant. So it turned to ChaptGPT’s head of product, Nick Turley, to testify as a witness in the hope that he would help strengthen the case.

in a landmark Ruled last AugustA court has determined that Google has a monopoly on search While Google is appealing the decision, the Justice Department is now asking the court to determine what punishment it should face, ie Close Chrome or a 10-year ban on publishing any browser products.

To bolster its case, the DOJ pulled various Google competitors such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Perplexity. It wants certain executives, Like Perplexity’s Chief Business Officer Dmitry Shevlenko, to testify. (It’s not yet clear whether Shevlenko will do so. Confusion did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

Recent legal filings have confirmed that a top OpenAI executive, Nick Turley, head of product at ChatGPT, will testify as a witness in the US government’s case.

“Mr. Turley is a witness chosen by the plaintiffs [the DOJ] to testify on behalf of OpenAI,” Google’s lawyers wrote on January 16 Legal filings.

“Mr. Turley is an OpenAI witness who will testify for the government at the evidentiary hearing,” Another filing Reading from 16 January.

Neither filing specified when Turley would testify. Turley is expected to ask the US about “search access points, distribution, barriers to entry and expansion, and the relationship of generative AI to data sharing.” per filing. The DOJ did not provide details on what it intends to ask Turley. (These are exactly the same thing want to ask (About CBO of Confusion.)

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 is launched Its own AI search browser.

To prepare itself for Turley’s testimony, Google subpoenaed OpenAI for documents related to the case. But the two companies are now at loggerheads over how much proof OpenAI should provide.

In a legal filing On January 16, Google criticized OpenAI for producing “surprisingly few documents”. OpenAI’s lawyers have fired back, noting that Google’s demands for documents from top executives like CEO Sam Altman appear to be “a Trojan horse intended to harass OpenAI executives.”

OpenAI has agreed to share some documents from Turley’s work file about OpenAI’s strategy on AI products, the integration of AI into search-related products, and its Microsoft partnership. a letter From the show OpenAI’s lawyers.

Google said it needed more documents from more officials, mostly because relying on Turley would “bias Google” because Turley was a witness “handpicked” by the US government. Filing.

Google also wants documents from OpenAI that, before ChatGPT launches in November 2022, claim They “could undermine Mr. Turley’s testimony regarding entry barriers in a way that post-launch documents would not.” But OpenAI says the old documents “cannot meaningfully represent” the current AI landscape.

Both sides appear at an impasse, and OpenAI has asked the court to deny Google full access to its requested evidence.

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

TechCrunch has an AI-focused newsletter! Sign up here Get it in your inbox every Wednesday.