The U.S. Department of Justice has embarked on an antitrust investigation into the collaboration agreement between Google and the AI startup Character.AI. The aim is to ascertain whether this agreement breaches antitrust regulations and attempts to sidestep government reviews of mergers. According to reports, Google inked a non-exclusive licensing deal with Character.AI last year, granting it access to the startup's advanced language model technology and securing the services of Character.AI's co-founder. Presently, the investigation is in its nascent stages, with no enforcement measures yet taken against Google. Additionally, Google finds itself under the microscope of regulators as it pursues growth in the generative AI sector. Notably, the Department of Justice has already subjected Google to considerable regulatory scrutiny in the online search market and digital advertising technology industry.