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.

As preparations continue for the third round of US-Iran nuclear negotiations, new sanctions against Iran have emerged. The US administration announced new sanctions targeting an Iranian LPG company and its affiliated entities. Iran condemned the new sanctions, stating they “contradict the dialogue process.”

At a time when nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington were reportedly “progressing better than expected,” the US imposed new sanctions on Iran’s energy sector. Days before the third round of nuclear talks, the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting Seyyed Asadollah Emamjomeh, a leading Iranian businessman in the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector, and his associated corporate network. The sanctions were imposed within the framework of the “maximum pressure” policy against Iran, which US President Donald Trump continued despite the nuclear negotiations.

In its statement, the US Treasury Department alleged that Emamjomeh and the affiliates of his son, Meysam Emamjomeh, a British and Iranian citizen residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), “provide revenue to the Iranian regime and its proxies.” The department stated that the father and son “own and operate an LPG sales, transportation, and delivery network worth hundreds of millions of dollars using multiple Iran and UAE-based companies,” and made the following claim:

“In addition to crude oil, LPG continues to be a significant revenue source for the Iranian regime, and this revenue finances Iran’s nuclear and advanced conventional weapons programs, as well as regional proxy groups and partners such as Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Hamas.”

In a written statement regarding the new sanctions, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ismail Bekayi said that the sanctions were a clear indication of the Washington administration’s hostile attitude towards the Iranian people and contradicted the US’s claims of dialogue.

Bekayi stated that the US was “bullying for political pressure” and that the sanctions were “illegal.”

The new sanctions were announced at a time when sources speaking to al-Arabi al-Jadeed said that “nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington are progressing better than expected.” These sources had stated, “We expect an agreement between Tehran and Washington within the next two months – which is likely to be sooner. Iran-American negotiations are progressing better than expected.”

The report noted that “the serious conduct of the American negotiator surprised the Iranian side; unrealistic demands unrelated to the nuclear dispute were not raised,” and used the phrase, “The US approves Iran’s right to enrich uranium in principle.” The sources also said that Iran had “submitted proposals to provide assurances regarding the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.”

The first round of nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington, mediated by Oman, took place last Saturday in Muscat, and the second round was held on April 19 in Rome. The third round is planned to take place this Saturday in Oman.

Three Manhattan federal prosecutors working on the criminal case against New York Mayor Eric Adams resigned on Tuesday, accusing the Department of Justice of “forcing us to admit wrongdoing” in connection with their opposition to the dismissal of charges.

In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the prosecutors stated, “The Department has decided that obedience is paramount, asking us to abandon our legal and ethical obligations in favor of Washington’s directives. This is wrong.”

The prosecutors alleged that Adams improperly issued permits for the “Turkish House,” a building constructed directly across from the United Nations building in Manhattan, and the Consulate General of the Republic of Türkiye building in exchange for luxury class flights, hotel suite accommodations, and meals at upscale restaurants.

Prosecutors Celia Cohen, Andrew Rohrbach, and Derek Wikstrom, along with US Attorney Danielle Sassoon, who was working in Manhattan at the time, were placed on administrative leave in February after they refused to accept the Department of Justice’s directive to dismiss the five-count corruption case against the Democratic mayor.

Sassoon, along with at least five other prosecutors in New York and Washington, had resigned in protest. The prosecutors had alleged that the Department of Justice dropped the case in exchange for the mayor’s support for President Donald Trump’s policy objectives, particularly regarding immigration practices.

The Department stated that it would review the prosecutors’ handling of the case, and Cohen, Rohrbach, and Wikstrom said in their letter that officials had improperly pressured them to admit errors in their conduct.

The prosecutors wrote, “It is now clear that one of the preconditions you have set for our return to the Office is that we express remorse and admit to certain errors made by the Office in connection with the request to dismiss the case. We will not confess to wrongdoing when there was none.”

The prosecutors’ letter comes at a time when the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office is in turmoil regarding the outcome of the Adams case. On Tuesday, interim US Attorney Jay Clayton, nominated by Trump for the position, took over as the department’s interim leader.

Clayton was appointed to the interim position last week after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he would block his nomination, citing concerns about the Department of Justice’s stance.

Clayton, who has never worked as a prosecutor, spent most of his career at Sullivan & Cromwell, the law firm Trump hired to represent him in his appeal of his criminal conviction in Manhattan earlier this year.

According to a person familiar with the matter, Clayton is preparing to hire Amanda Houle, another Sullivan & Cromwell partner, to serve as the office’s chief of criminal division.