Google has been fighting a legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice for quite some time and has lost the case. The tech giant was declared to be in violation of antitrust laws and involved in monopolistic practices in online search. One of the proposed solutions by the regulatory authorities was to divest Chrome in order to break the dominance of the company. The case is now in its remedies phase, where the penalties Google would face are being decided. OpenAI has shown interest in acquiring Google's Chrome browser if the authorities decide to break it off.
OpenAI wants to buy Google's Chrome if the regulators decide to force Google to divest it
DOJ, in its pursuit against Google, won the battle, and the tech giant is said to be a monopolist in online search. While the remedies phase of the trial started on Monday, the regulatory authorities have proposed a remedy that involves Google breaking off Chrome. During the antitrust trial, OpenAI's Head of Product for ChatGPT, Nick Turley, expressed interest in acquiring Google's Chrome browser if the DOJ compels Google to divest it.
According to the Information, Nick Turley shared his interest during the court hearing, which revolved around finding appropriate remedies to deal with Google's violation of antitrust law. While pushing for the dramatic proposal, the DOJ emphasized that forcing Google to break off Chrome would help shake its dominance as the default engine. The court still has to decide its course of action, while Google plans to appeal the ruling. However, OpenAI's intent to take over Chrome indicates the potential shift in the industry that could be seen if the DOJ makes a drastic decision.
OpenAI was cited in the DOJ's case as a company that had been adversely impacted by Google's dominance in the search industry. Last year, OpenAI approached Google to access its search data in an attempt to improve the SearchGPT project, but the request was said to have been blatantly refused. Keeping this in mind, the DOJ not only intends to push for a divestiture of Chrome but also could make Google allow competitors to access its search data.
Nick Turley, seeing the possible direction the regulators could be headed for, took the chance to emphasize how access to Google's real-time search data could help the company enhance its tools and escalate its product development. In addition to these two measures, the tech giant could also face restrictions on entering into agreements with Apple and other companies to remain the default search engine. If OpenAI ends up actually buying Google Chrome, it could truly change the dynamics of the tech industry and could be a huge blow to Google's core business.
