Key changes:
- Updated: "We are subject to claims, lawsuits, regulatory and government inquiries and investigations, other proceedings, and orders involving competition, intellectual property, data privacy and security, tax and related compliance, labor and employment, commercial disputes, content generated by our users, goods and services offered by advertisers or publishers using our platforms, design of our products and services, personal injury and other tort and nuisance theories, consumer protection claims, including how we moderate content on our platforms, AI, and other matters."
- Updated: "Table of Contents Table of Contents For example, the DOJ and a number of state Attorneys General filed a lawsuit concerning our Search and Search advertising practices and our compliance with US antitrust laws."
- Updated: "Estimating liabilities for our pending proceedings is a complex, fact-specific, and speculative process that requires significant judgment, and the amounts we are ultimately liable for may differ from our estimates."
Current (2026):
We are subject to claims, lawsuits, regulatory and government inquiries and investigations, other proceedings, and orders involving competition, intellectual property, data privacy and security, tax and related compliance, labor and employment, commercial disputes, content…
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We are subject to claims, lawsuits, regulatory and government inquiries and investigations, other proceedings, and orders involving competition, intellectual property, data privacy and security, tax and related compliance, labor and employment, commercial disputes, content generated by our users, goods and services offered by advertisers or publishers using our platforms, design of our products and services, personal injury and other tort and nuisance theories, consumer protection claims, including how we moderate content on our platforms, AI, and other matters. The US Department of Justice (DOJ), various states, and other plaintiffs have filed, and may continue to file in the future, several antitrust lawsuits about aspects of our business, including our advertising technologies and practices, the operation and distribution of Google Search, and the operation and distribution of Android operating system and Play Store. If we are unsuccessful in these lawsuits, we could face significant expenses to implement the remedies, and such costs and alterations could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results. 18. 18. 18. 18. 18. 18. Table of ContentsAlphabet Inc. Table of ContentsAlphabet Inc. Table of Contents Table of ContentsAlphabet Inc. Table of Contents Table of Contents For example, the DOJ and a number of state Attorneys General filed a lawsuit concerning our Search and Search advertising practices and our compliance with US antitrust laws. In August 2024, the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against Google, and in December 2025, entered a final judgment requiring remedies, which, among other things, imposes restrictions on how we distribute our services and requires us to share certain search data with and offer syndication services to certain competitors. In January 2026, we appealed the final judgment and moved to pause implementation of certain remedies. In February 2026, the DOJ and state Attorneys General also appealed. Furthermore, in December 2020, a number of state Attorneys General, led by the Texas Attorney General, filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas concerning our advertising technology and our compliance with US antitrust laws and other laws. In January 2023, the DOJ and a number of state Attorneys General sued in the Eastern District of Virginia alleging similar antitrust violations relating to our advertising technology. In April 2025, the presiding judge issued a mixed decision in the DOJ case against us, ruling that neither our advertiser tools nor the DoubleClick and AdMeld acquisitions were anticompetitive, but that our publisher tools unfairly excluded rivals. A separate proceeding to determine remedies, the range of which varies widely, took place in September 2025 with the parties presenting differing remedy proposals. The DOJ's remedy proposal includes structural remedies that could harm our business. Closing arguments were held in November 2025, and we are awaiting a final judgment. After that judgment, we plan to appeal the adverse portion of the April 2025 decision and potentially aspects of the remedies decision. A trial in the state Attorneys General case in the Eastern District of Texas will take place after a decision on remedies is issued in the DOJ advertising technology case, and could result in remedies that could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results. In addition to these regulatory proceedings, private individual and collective actions that overlap with claims pursued by regulators are pending in the US and in several other jurisdictions. Adverse results in these or similar future lawsuits may include awards of monetary damages and remedies that could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results. Other regulatory agencies in the US and around the world, including competition enforcers, consumer protection agencies, and data protection authorities, have challenged and may continue to challenge our business practices and compliance with laws and regulations. We are cooperating with these investigations and defending litigation or appealing decisions where appropriate. We are also subject to a variety of claims including product warranty, product liability, and consumer protection claims related to product defects, among other litigation, and we may also be subject to claims involving health and safety, hazardous materials usage, other environmental effects, AI training, development, and commercialization, or service disruptions or failures. Claims have been brought, and we expect will continue to be brought, against us for defamation, negligence, breaches of contract, patent, copyright, and trademark infringement, unfair competition, unlawful activity, torts, privacy rights violations, fraud, or other legal theories based on the nature and content of information available on or via our services, the design and effect of our products and services, or due to our involvement in hosting, transmitting, marketing, branding, or providing access to content created by third parties. Various laws, regulations, investigations, enforcement lawsuits, and regulatory actions have involved in the past, and may in the future result in substantial fines and penalties, injunctive relief, ongoing monitoring and auditing obligations, changes to our products and services, alterations to our business models and operations, including divestiture, and collateral related civil litigation or other adverse consequences. Any of these legal proceedings could also result in legal costs, diversion of management resources, and negative publicity, all of which could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results. Estimating liabilities for our pending proceedings is a complex, fact-specific, and speculative process that requires significant judgment, and the amounts we are ultimately liable for may differ from our estimates. The resolution of one or more such proceedings has resulted in, and may in the future result in, additional substantial fines, penalties, injunctions, and other sanctions that could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results. For additional information about the ongoing material legal proceedings to which we are subject, see Legal Proceedings in Item 3 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
View prior text (2025)
We are subject to claims, lawsuits, regulatory and government inquiries and investigations, other proceedings, and orders involving competition, intellectual property, data privacy and security, tax and related compliance, labor and employment, commercial disputes, content generated by our users, goods and services offered by advertisers or publishers using our platforms, personal injury, and other matters. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), various U.S. states, and other plaintiffs have filed, and may continue to file in the future, several antitrust lawsuits about various aspects of our business, including our advertising technologies and practices, the operation and distribution of Google Search, and the operation and distribution of the Android operating system and Play Store. For example, the DOJ and a number of state Attorneys General filed a lawsuit alleging that Google violated antitrust laws relating to Search and Search advertising, and in August 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Google violated such antitrust laws. The Court is holding a separate proceeding to determine remedies, which could include alterations to our products and services and our business models and operations, including structural remedies, and/or our distribution arrangements, among other changes. While we plan to appeal, there can be no assurance that our appeal will succeed, or that we will be able to change or decrease the severity of any remedies that may be ordered, and any or all of these potential remedies could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results. Also, in December 2023, a California jury delivered a verdict in Epic Games v. Google finding that Google violated antitrust laws relating to Google Play's business. The presiding judge issued a remedies decision in October 2024 that ordered a variety of alterations to our business models and operations and contractual agreements for Android and Google Play. We are appealing the verdict, but if we are unsuccessful, we could face significant expenses to implement the remedies, and such costs and alterations could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results. Furthermore, in December 2020, several State Attorneys General, led by the Texas Attorney General, filed an antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas alleging that Google violated antitrust and other laws relating to its advertising technology. This case is set for trial in March 2025, and we could face significant civil penalties. In January 2023, the DOJ and several Attorneys General sued in the Eastern District of Virginia alleging similar antitrust violations relating to Google’s advertising technology. Trial in the DOJ matter concluded in September 2024 with a decision expected in early 2025. If we are unsuccessful, we could face an order on remedies that could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results. In addition to these regulatory proceedings, private individual and collective actions that overlap with claims pursued by regulators are pending in the U.S. and in several other jurisdictions. Adverse results in these or similar future lawsuits may include awards of monetary damages and remedies that could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results. Other regulatory agencies in the U.S. and around the world, including competition enforcers, consumer protection agencies, and data protection authorities, have challenged and may continue to challenge our business practices and compliance with laws and regulations. We are cooperating with these investigations and defending litigation or appealing decisions where appropriate. We are also subject to a variety of claims including product warranty, product liability, and consumer protection claims related to product defects, among other litigation, and we may also be subject to claims involving health and safety, hazardous materials usage, other environmental effects, AI training, development, and commercialization, or service disruptions or failures. Claims have been brought, and we expect will continue to be brought, against us for 20. 20. 20. 20. 20. 20. Table of ContentsAlphabet Inc. Table of ContentsAlphabet Inc. Table of Contents Table of ContentsAlphabet Inc. Table of Contents Table of Contents defamation, negligence, breaches of contract, patent, copyright and trademark infringement, unfair competition, unlawful activity, torts, privacy rights violations, fraud, or other legal theories based on the nature and content of information available on or via our services, the design and effect of our products and services, or due to our involvement in hosting, transmitting, marketing, branding, or providing access to content created by third parties. Various laws, regulations, investigations, enforcement lawsuits, and regulatory actions have involved in the past, and may in the future result in substantial fines and penalties, injunctive relief, ongoing monitoring and auditing obligations, changes to our products and services, alterations to our business models and operations, including divestiture, and collateral related civil litigation or other adverse consequences. Any of these legal proceedings could also result in legal costs, diversion of management resources, and negative publicity, all of which could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results. Estimating liabilities for our pending proceedings is a complex, fact-specific, and speculative process that requires significant judgment, and the amounts we are ultimately liable for may be less than or exceed our estimates. The resolution of one or more such proceedings has resulted in, and may in the future result in, additional substantial fines, penalties, injunctions, and other sanctions that could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results. For additional information about the ongoing material legal proceedings to which we are subject, see Legal Proceedings in Item 3 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.