Europe's top court on Thursday upheld a 4.1 billion euro fine against Google over its Android mobile operating system, exhausting the U.S. technology giant's appeals in the biggest antitrust penalty Brussels has ever imposed on the company.

The ruling by the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest, closes a case the European Commission opened in 2015 and leaves Google-parent Alphabet with no further right of appeal. It caps Brussels' first-wave use of competition law against U.S. tech giants and lands as the White House warns European regulators against imposing costs on American companies.

What the court ruled

The Court of Justice dismissed Google's appeal against a 2022 General Court judgment that had trimmed the original 2018 fine of 4.34 billion euros to 4.1 billion euros, or about $4.67 billion. "The Court of Justice dismisses the appeal brought by Google and Alphabet against that judgment of the General Court, thereby confirming the penalty imposed on them, as revised by the General Court, for their anticompetitive practices relating to the Android operating system," the ECJ said in a press release. Alphabet shares traded about 1 percent lower before the U.S. market open, CNBC reported.

The 2018 case

The European Commission alleged three practices when it announced the penalty eight years ago. It said Google required Android handset and tablet makers to pre-install the Google Search app and the Chrome browser as a condition of offering the Play app store, paid large manufacturers and mobile carriers to exclusively pre-install Google Search, and blocked device makers from selling smartphones running "forked" versions of Android by threatening to withhold access to Google apps. The BBC noted that Google's Android does not prevent device owners from downloading alternative browsers or using other search engines once a phone is in hand.

Google's response

A Google spokesperson said Thursday's judgment "fails to recognise" the company's "significant investment to ensure Android remains open, interoperable and free." The spokesperson added: "In any event, we adapted our agreements to comply with the initial decision back in 2018 and we remain focused on continued innovation and openness for our users, partners and developers." Chief Executive Sundar Pichai wrote at the time of the original fine that the Commission's decision "rejects the business model that supports Android, which has created more choice for everyone, not less."

Regulatory pivot

Alex Haffner, a competition partner at London law firm Fladgate, told CNBC the decision marks a turning point in Brussels' approach. "The decision itself is particularly important in so far as it represents the end of what might be termed the European Commission's 'first stage' battle with big tech, that is the use of its competition law powers to deal with the behaviour of the Big Tech companies in terms of stifling competition on EU markets," Haffner said. He added that the Commission's focus has "switched to the legislative tools at its disposal, particularly the Digital Services Act." The Android case follows a 2.4 billion euro shopping-search fine upheld in 2024 and a 2.95 billion euro advertising-technology penalty imposed last year.

The counterpoint

Thursday's ruling deepens a widening rift with Washington. Last month President Trump threatened a 100 percent tariff on goods from any country that imposes a digital services tax on U.S. technology companies; France and Spain already levy such taxes. In March, U.S. Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder told CNBC that Europe "can't over regulate" and hit companies with "huge fines" if it wants to participate in the AI economy. The White House had not publicly responded to the Google judgment by press time, and Thursday's reporting captured no reaction from U.S. officials or industry critics of the Commission.

Attention now shifts to the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, under which the Commission is scrutinizing Apple and Meta alongside Google.