Google won't have to sell Chrome. Hooray?
The verdict is in. So what's next for the most popular browser?
Disclaimer: I’m excited to share that I’m working on some articles for Google-owned web.dev on AI + Web development. That said, the following expresses my own views formed from publicly available information. I do not have access to any behind-the-scenes information about Chrome.
District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google won’t have to sell Chrome (or Android!) but won’t be able to enter into or hold exclusive deals for Chrome, Gemini, Google Search, and has to share search data with rivals. There was an uptick in share prices as investors took the ruling as a positive sign, but I think the long-term impacts of having to pay for placement like everyone else mean the era of Google’s monopoly is coming to a close. If Elon Musk wanted Apple to use Grok to power Safari's search, little would stop him from outbidding Alphabet. It’s a ruling that appears favorable to Google but is actually quite damning.
Now that it’s clear Google won’t have to part with Chrome, we could see one or more things happen next:
Google could start pouring resources into reimagining Chrome as an AI browser, similar to Comet or Dia.
Google could release an “alternative experience” to the browser, perhaps a Gemini-powered personal agent that runs on top of the Internet.
Google could continue bumbling along with Chrome.
The latter could be possible if the company is distracted by Gemini and its other AI offerings and competition. Alphabet is a nimble startup no longer. It takes time to rally resources. Unless people have been working on an AI-fueled Chrome in silence like Microsoft did when it switched Edge from EdgeHTML to Chromium, it will take time to re-rally around the web. A clever company would have done 1 and 2 in absolute silence, waiting for this ruling. After all, no one wants to influence a judge at work—or put a lot of effort into a product they might have to hand over to a competitor.
I’m curious to see what happens next. Could there be something exciting around the corner, or have AI-friendly browsers like Opera gotten a head start?
On the road again!
I’m leaving London for a bit of travel in September to share some tea and give some talks about how AI is changing the web.
Sep 8-13 | Bay Area If you or someone you know wants to nerd out over agents and the web, hit me up!
Sep 9 | online O'Reilly AI Codecon: Coding for the Agentic World
Sep 16 | online Unintelligence Conf
Sep 18-19 | Seattle CascadiaJS Google’s Jason Mayes (who claims to have invented the term “Web AI”) and Jack Herrington (who does great videos about MCP) will be speaking as well. Use STACKED to get $50 off a ticket.
Coming up: On Monday I’ve got a special interview with the maintainer behind Claude’s computer use capabilities. Stay tuned!