Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, took the stand on Wednesday during the remedies phase of the company’s search antitrust trial, and offered a simple message. The US government’s plan to rectify Google’s search monopoly, he said, would be so crushing to Google Search that it might be hard to justify continuing to build a search engine at all.

While Pichai’s 2024 compensation stood at $10.73 million (Rs 90 crore), it was modest compared to other tech leaders. For instance, Apple’s Tim Cook earned $74.6 million (approximately Rs 729 crore), according to Mint, and Netflix’s co-CEOs each received over $60 million (over Rs 500 crore), reports Variety.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai cautioned that the US Department of Justice's antitrust remedies could jeopardize Google Search, potentially leading the company to discontinue its flagship product. Pichai argued that the DOJ's proposal to share Google's search index with competitors at minimal cost would stifle innovation.