With more than 67% of the global search browser market, Google Chrome is the dominant worldwide search leader (Safari is No. 2 with nearly 18%, Microsoft Edge has 5.2%, and Firefox has 2.54%).
So it’s no surprise that, when asked by a judge Tuesday if OpenAI would try to buy Google’s browser if parent company Alphabet is forced to divest, ChatGPT’s Head of Product Nick Turley said a definite yes — and that they wouldn’t be the only company interested.
“Yes, we would, as would many other parties,” Turley said in court Tuesday, per Bloomberg, adding that ChatGPT and Chrome combined would give his company the chance to offer an “incredible experience” that’s “AI-first.”
OpenAI says it has more than 400 million weekly active users, per CNBC.
In August 2024, after a 10-week trial, a federal judge ruled that Google illegally monopolized the online search and search ads markets. The judge wrote in a 286-page opinion that “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly” through exclusive agreements.
Now, Google is back in court regarding the DOJ’s request for the tech giant to sell its Chrome browser to remedy the monopoly. A judge will decide by August what Alphabet must do — like sell Chrome, for example, or license its search data to rivals.
Google is appealing part of the rulings.
Bloomberg notes that the last time a court ordered a breakup of a major U.S. company was AT&T in the 1980s.
