OpenAI is positioning itself as a possible bidder for Google Chrome if regulators compel Google to sell the popular web browser, as stated in testimony presented in court Wednesday.
OpenAI product head Nick Turley testified in front of a judge that the maker of ChatGPT would be willing to acquire Chrome if it were made available as part of the remedies for Google’s ongoing antitrust case, Reuters says.
This development occurred in the remedies stage of the historic antitrust case US v. Google, which commenced Monday. Last year, Judge Amit Mehta determined Google holds an illegal monopoly on online search, a finding Google will appeal.
The U.S. Department of Justice has put forward a number of possible remedies to counter Google’s monopoly, one extreme being requiring Google to divest Chrome, its leading web browser.
Chrome already commands over 60% of the worldwide browser market, and in doing so, gives Google gigantic control over the way individuals browse the internet. To OpenAI, having such a widely used platform would significantly increase its reach and integration ability for its AI software.
During his testimony, Turley also revealed that OpenAI had previously made an overture to Google concerning a potential partnership that would allow ChatGPT to leverage Google’s search functionality. Such efforts were unsuccessful.
“We think that having access to multiple partners, and specifically Google’s API, would allow us to offer a better product to users,” OpenAI wrote in an email submitted to trial, reported Reuters. Turley affirmed that “we have no partnership with Google today,” highlighting the battle of competition between the two tech giants.
ChatGPT currently uses Microsoft’s Bing to search but Turley’s testimony indicated the partnership has not been without its problems. Without naming Microsoft specifically, he testified OpenAI has had “substantial quality issues” with a firm called “Provider No. 1,” Bloomberg reported.
These quality issues appear to be driving OpenAI’s urgency to diversify its search partners and perhaps have its own gateways to users through portals like Chrome.
Aside from possible acquisition and alliance, Turley’s testimony uncovered that OpenAI is continuously trying to develop its own search index. The company initially set an ambitious target of enabling ChatGPT to employ its own search system on 80 percent of queries by 2025.
Nonetheless, Turley admitted that attaining this mark will probably occur years later than initially envisioned, which shows how much technical issues are entangled in developing an aggressive search business from scratch.
Google’s antitrust case remedies stage is a watershed moment for the technology sector. Judge Mehta’s ultimate decision on how to do so could change the digital landscape and have an enormous impact on how people search on the web.
For Google, losing Chrome would be a severe blow to its integrated product ecosystem. Chrome is not just a primary entry point for Google Search, but it also captures valuable user data and provides Google with leverage over web standards and technologies.
For OpenAI and others, structural solutions like forcing Google to break up Chrome would offer rare chances to compete with Google on terms of dominance by acquiring successful properties with enormous installed bases.
As the remedies period goes on, both parties will make arguments regarding what steps would actually restore competition in the search market without unfairly harming consumers or innovation.
Google is likely to contend that it would be harmful to user experience to split its products and that less drastic action would be sufficient to address competitive issues. Meanwhile, the DOJ and rivals such as OpenAI will push for more radical interventions.
Whether or not the company itself transforms, Turley’s testimony is unambiguous about the fact that the industry giants are already positioning themselves to take advantage of possible shifts to Google’s corporate structure, hinting that ripple effects of the antitrust action could ripple far beyond Google itself.
The trial goes on with more witnesses to give evidence on suggested remedies in the next few days.
