OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has shown interest in buying Google’s Chrome browser if a court orders Google to sell it. This comes amid the ongoing antitrust trial against Google. The ChatGPT-maker might be looking to integrate its AI chatbot with Chrome, offering users an AI-first browsing experience.
OpenAI may buy Chrome if Google is forced to sell it
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says that Google has an illegal monopoly in the online search market. Due to its dominance in search, Google can easily promote its other products, including the Chrome browser.
Now, the remedies phase of the trial has begun, where Google might be forced to sell its Chrome browser as part of the remedies. It could be a good opportunity for big companies that want to leverage Google’s product technology and huge user base.
During a recent court hearing, ChatGPT’s head of product, Nick Turley, said that OpenAI would buy Google’s Chrome browser if a federal court orders it to sell off. Turley said acquiring Chrome would allow OpenAI to “offer a really incredible experience” and “introduce users to what an AI-first [browser] looks like,” according to Bloomberg.
Last year, OpenAI reached out to Google about a potential partnership that would allow ChatGPT to use Google’s search technology. The company had been experiencing issues with its own unnamed search provider. But we know ChatGPT uses technology from Microsoft’s search engine, Bing.
“We believe having multiple partners, and in particular Google’s API, would enable us to provide a better product to users,” OpenAI told Google, according to an email shown at trial. Turley said that “we have no partnership with Google today,” which Google confirmed.
An earlier report suggested OpenAI may come up with its own web browser to compete with Chrome. The company has hired ex-Google developers such as Ben Goodger and Darin Fisher, who were part of the original Chrome project.
As of now, nothing has been finalized — the trial is still ongoing. And who knows? One day, ChatGPT and Chrome might be part of the same team.
