Pichai is the most high-profile witness yet in the 10-week trial.
He pushed back against allegations that Google’s deals with manufacturers to be the default search engine across devices lead to less competition in the market, according to multiple reports.
The deals, such as a 2021 agreement with Apple reportedly valued at $18 billion, are a core component of the Department of Justice’s case.
During his testimony, Pichai reportedly described Google’s investments in its Chrome web browser.
He underscored Google’s defense that it did not gain its dominance through illegal anticompetitive behavior but rather due to creating a superior product.
The government, though, along with rivals like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, have called out the default deals as a factor limiting competition throughout the trial, which began last month.
The government has questioned why Google pays billions of dollars to maintain its default status while downplaying the value of being the default browser and highlighting how users can change their default browser settings.
A slide introduced at the trial last week showed that in 2021 Google paid $23.6 billion to secure default agreements with various partners globally, CNN reported.
Google’s own lawyer posed the question over why Google pays billions to maintain its default search status.
“Making it the default,” Pichai said, according to CNN, “we know it would lead to increased usage of our products and services. There’s clearly value to that, and that’s what we were looking to do” with deals with partners.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
