Google might soon have to give up control of Chrome — and big names are already lining up to grab it.The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has been fighting Google in court, accusing the tech giant of using unfair practices to dominate the search engine market.
Last year, the court found that Google paid companies like Apple and Samsung billions of dollars to keep Google Search as the default option on their devices. As a result, the DOJ wants Google to be broken up — starting with Chrome, the world’s most popular web browser.
Now, during a fresh round of hearings, it's becoming clear that if Chrome goes up for sale, there will be no shortage of buyers.
According to Bloomberg, Yahoo is very interested. Brian Provost, who heads Yahoo Search, attended the hearing in Washington and said Chrome is "arguably the most important strategic player on the web." He also confirmed that Yahoo, along with its parent company Apollo, would seriously consider buying it.
But Yahoo isn’t alone. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has also shown interest. OpenAI already offers ChatGPT Search, and owning Chrome could give them a huge advantage in competing with Google Search.
Another new player, Perplexity, is eyeing Chrome too. Perplexity’s business chief, Dmitry Shevelenko, said they believe they can manage and grow Chrome just as well as Google has.
Of course, Google isn’t giving up without a fight — it’s likely to appeal in higher courts. But if the DOJ gets its way, the battle for Chrome could soon become one of the biggest tech stories of the year.
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