Nick Turley, Head of Product at ChatGPT, testified that OpenAI would be interested in acquiring the Chrome browser should a judge decide to break it off from Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

According to a report in Reuters:

“ChatGPT head of product Nick Turley made the statement while testifying at trial in Washington where U.S. Department of Justice seeks to require Google to undertake far-reaching measures restore competition in online search.”

Perplexity Comes Out Against Chrome Divestiture

On Monday Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas wrote a post on X (formerly Twitter) stating that he intends to testify in support of Google at the U.S. governments anti-trust trial.

Perplexity simultaneously published an article explaining how their position isn’t so much about supporting Google as it is about supporting the future of web browsers and a more open Android ecosystem, two things that he explains will preserve a high level of quality for browsers and create more opportunity and innovation on mobile devices, a win-win for consumers and businesses.

The United States department of Justice wants to split Chrome off from Google as a way to minimize Google’s monopoly position across multiple industries which it asserts is having a negative effect on competition. Srinivas argues that separating Chrome from Google would have the opposite effect.

Srinivas laid out his two key concerns:

1. Google should not be broken up. Chrome should remain within and continue to be run by Google. Google deserves a lot of credit for open-sourcing Chromium, which powers Microsoft’s Edge and will also power Perplexity’s Comet. Chrome has become the dominant browser due to incredible execution quality at the scale of billions of users.

2. Android should become more open to consumer choice. There shouldn’t be a tight coupling to the default apps set by Google, and the permission for OEMs to have the Play Store and Maps. Consumers should have the choice to pick who they want as a default search and default voice assistant, and OEMs should be able to offer consumers this choice without having to be blocked by Google on the ability to have the Play Store and other Google apps (Maps, YouTube).”

Takeaways

OpenAI Expresses Interest In Chrome Browser

Nick Turley, Head of Product at ChatGPT, stated OpenAI would be interested in purchasing Chrome if a court orders Google to divest it.
His statement was made during testimony in the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust trial against Google.

Perplexity AI’s Position Against Chrome Divestiture

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas publicly opposed the idea of separating Chrome from Google.
He announced plans to testify in support of Google in the antitrust case.
Perplexity emphasized that their stance is focused on preserving innovation.

Call for a More Open Android Ecosystem

Srinivas advocated for a more open Android ecosystem.
He proposed that consumers should freely choose their default search engine and voice assistant.
He criticized Google’s practice of requiring OEMs to bundle Google services like the Play Store and Maps.
He urged regulators to focus on increasing consumer choice on Android rather than breaking up Chrome.

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Prathmesh T

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