OpenAI eyes Google’s Chrome browser amid antitrust trial

Nick Turley, manager of the ChatGPT unit at artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, said in a court hearing on Tuesday, June 18, that OpenAI would be interested in buying Google’s Chrome browser if a federal court decides to separate it.

As reported by Bloomberg, when asked if they would want to buy Google’s browser, Turley replied, “Yes, we would, just like many other parties.”

Turley was called to testify by the Department of Justice as part of a three-week hearing aimed at determining what changes Alphabet Inc.’s Google should be required to make to its business practices after a federal judge ruled last year that the company had monopolized the search market.

Judge Amit Mehta is expected to decide by August what business practices Google must change.

The Department of Justice has requested that Google be forced to divest Chrome.

Currently, OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT has an extension available for users to download on Google’s Chrome browser.

However, Turley stated that deeper integration of Chrome with OpenAI would allow them to offer a better product.

“If ChatGPT were integrated into Chrome, you could offer a truly incredible experience. We would have the ability to introduce users to what an AI-centric experience looks like,” Turley added.

Turley said that one of the most difficult problems the company faces today is distribution, noting that the company had reached a deal to integrate ChatGPT into Apple Inc.’s iPhone but had not achieved any success with Android smartphone manufacturers.

Earlier, a Google executive had acknowledged that the company began paying Samsung Electronics Co. in January to pre-install its Gemini AI application on its phones.

That deal is not exclusive, but Turley said OpenAI had made little progress in discussions with the South Korean company due to Google’s ability to spend more than the startup.

“It’s not for lack of trying,” Turley said. “We just never got to a point where we could discuss concrete terms.”

Later in his testimony, Turley said they were “deeply concerned about being shut out” by some of the large companies in the market, such as Google.

“We have powerful competitors who control the access points for how our products are discovered,” Turley stated. “People discover through a browser or an app store. Real choice fosters competition. Users should be able to choose.”

Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT quickly achieved viral success as one of the fastest-growing consumer software products of all time.

In February, OpenAI reported having over 400 million weekly active users.

Turley stated that the company had exceeded its weekly active user targets for 2024 but did not provide a number.

This week, Google began facing off against the Department of Justice and dozens of state attorneys general over what changes Mehta will order to prevent the company from monopolizing the online search market.

The remedies proposed by the Department of Justice include forcing Google to sell its Chrome browser, licensing search data to competitors, and stopping paid agreements for exclusive positions on apps and devices.

Google argues that the government’s proposal would harm consumers by degrading everyday Google products and would damage US leadership in technology.

If the court orders Google to sell its popular web browser, it would mark the first time a major US company has been broken up by court order since the breakup of AT&T in the 1980s.