OpenAI has expressed interest in purchasing Google’s Chrome browser if the tech giant is required to sell it as part of a U.S. government antitrust case. This statement was made by Nick Turley, OpenAI’s head of product, during court proceedings in the ongoing case against Google. The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed that selling Chrome could be one of the necessary steps to reduce Google’s dominance in the online search market. Judge Amit Mehta previously ruled that Google holds a monopoly in this space, though Google has stated it plans to appeal the decision.
During his testimony, Turley also revealed that OpenAI had approached Google last year to discuss a possible partnership. This collaboration would have allowed ChatGPT to access Google’s search technology directly. Currently, ChatGPT uses data from Microsoft’s Bing for search-related functions. While Turley did not explicitly mention Microsoft by name, he referred to experiencing “significant quality issues” with what he called “Provider No. 1,” widely believed to be Microsoft.
An internal email presented in court showed OpenAI’s belief that working with multiple partners, including access to Google’s API, could significantly improve the quality of its services for users. However, Google declined the partnership proposal, and Turley confirmed that OpenAI has no formal partnership with Google at present.
In addition to seeking external search partnerships, OpenAI has been developing its own search index. The company initially set a goal to have ChatGPT rely on its in-house index for 80 percent of search queries by the end of 2025. However, according to Turley’s testimony, OpenAI now expects this target will take much longer to achieve.
The remarks from OpenAI come as the remedies phase of the Google antitrust trial begins, focusing on how to address the company’s alleged monopoly.
