Oracle says US investigators want it to share Google information

Oracle Corp, which has clashed with Alphabet’s Google in business disputes, says it has received requests for information from congressional and state investigators in the United States looking into allegations that Google violated antitrust law.

Oracle received the information requests from the Texas attorney general’s office and the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, said Ken Glueck, an Oracle executive based in Washington, DC.

The House Judiciary Committee has sought information from dozens of companies likely to have suffered harm from tech giants, a source close to the House investigation told the Reuters news agency.

The committee will decide whether to issue subpoenas depending on how many companies answer voluntarily.

Oracle has also met with the Justice Department, Glueck said.

Google declined to comment on the matter, Reuters reported.

Oracle has alleged that Google infringed on Oracle’s copyright on its Java programming language to make the Android operating system which runs most of the world’s smartphones. The Supreme Court is considering whether to take up Google’s appeal of a lower court ruling reviving the lawsuit. Oracle has sought about $9bn in damages.

Technology companies, once lauded as a source of innovation that spurred efficiency and economic growth, face a backlash in the US and the world over concerns among competitors, legislators and consumer groups that the firms have too much power and harm users and business rivals.

Their critics range from Republicans such as President Donald Trump, who has worried about conservative voices being stifled online, to progressives such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has proposed forcing Google, Facebook Inc and Amazon.com, Inc to sell companies that they purchased because of antitrust concerns.

Reuters and other media reported in June that the federal agencies divided up the companies for investigation, with the Justice Department taking Google and Apple while the Federal Trade Commission looked at Facebook and Amazon.com Inc.

The House Judiciary Committee is also looking at all four while groups of state attorneys general have formed to focus on Facebook and Google.