Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- An OpenAI executive has testified that the company would be interested in buying Chrome if Google were forced to sell it.
- The executive claimed that this would enable an “AI-first” experience for users.
- The testimony comes after the Department of Justice called on Google to sell Chrome.
Chrome is the world’s most popular web browser, but the Department of Justice is calling for Google to sell it. Now, at least one major tech company has revealed its interest in buying the browser.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT chief Nick Turley testified in court (via Bloomberg) that the AI company would be interested in buying Chrome if Google were ordered to sell it. He added that “many other parties” would also try to buy the web browser.
Turley added that Chrome would be a better product if it were deeply integrated into OpenAI. ChatGPT is currently available as a browser extension in Google’s browser.
The ChatGPT chief said that acquiring Chrome would give OpenAI “the ability to introduce users into (sic) what an AI-first experience looks like.”
Would an OpenAI-owned Chrome be a good thing?
Many people would find deeper AI integration to be useful, but modern generative AI services are far from perfect. Google has more than its fair share of embarrassing moments in the field, such as its image generator creating diverse Nazis and its AI Overviews providing incorrect and dangerous answers. Meanwhile, Apple’s own notification summaries feature on iOS has made headlines for its poor, alarmingly inaccurate results. ChatGPT isn’t immune to wildly incorrect answers or hallucinations, either. So we can understand why you’d think an “AI-first” Chrome browser under OpenAI would be a bad idea.
Would you use Chrome if OpenAI bought it?
0 votes
We also wonder about OpenAI’s handling of browser data. Google currently utilizes your browser data for ad-related purposes, and the company can tap into your search history to personalize Gemini. However, we’re curious to see whether an OpenAI-owned Chrome would also hoover up your data in order to train its AI models.
A Google executive also confirmed during testimony that it was paying Samsung to preload Gemini on its devices. Turley claimed OpenAI didn’t make significant progress in reaching a deal with Samsung because Google was able to outspend it.
“We never got to a point where we could discuss concrete terms,” the executive explained, adding that it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
