What could’ve been Google’s worst year turned into one of its best
TL;DR
Despite facing major legal battles and AI competition, Google avoided breakup, set profit records, and solidified its AI leadership in 2025.
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2025 could have been a pretty disastrous year for Google. The company came in knowing it had three major legal battles to fight, increasing competition in the burgeoning AI market, and a new US president to adapt to. It looked possible - perhaps likely - that the company might be broken up and forced to sell off Chrome or part of its ad tech business, leaving it forever smaller.
But that's not what happened. Instead, we're looking back at a year where Google set profit records, persuaded the courts to let it keep the status quo going at least a little longer in search and advertising, and established itself as one of AI's few unambiguous s …