Google could soon be forced to let go of Chrome browser, Sundar Pichai's pet project
In a major blow to tech giant Google, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has moved one step closer to breaking up the behemoth. The DoJ is calling for Google to divest its Chrome browser as part of a remedy to break up the company¡¯s illegal monopoly in online search.??
DoJ goes hard on Google
In addition to this, Google must also share data and search results with competitors and take a range of other measures to end its monopoly on internet searches, prosecutors argued at the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia on Wednesday.??
The DoJ further demanded that Google should be barred from re-entering the browser market for five years and that the company should sell its Android mobile operating system if other remedies fail to restore competition.??
The DoJ has also requested a prohibition on Google buying or investing in any search rivals, query-based artificial intelligence products, or advertising technology.??
Google Chrome's market dominance
Chrome, which is available across platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, is the most popular web browser in the world. As of October 2024, Google Chrome had a market share of around 65% of global desktop internet browsers.??
Also read:?Who is Amit Mehta, the Indian-born judge who ruled 'Google has an illegal monopoly on search'?
Chrome was developed by?Sundar Pichai
If forced to sell off Chrome, it would also be a personal loss for Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, who is credited with developing it. In fact, the success of Google Chrome catapulted Pichai to first become the CEO of Google and later its parent company, Alphabet.??
In the early 2000s, after the Google Toolbar failed to produce the results the company expected, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were looking for a new product.??
It was at this point that Pichai put forward the idea of a brand-new browser to Page and Brin, resulting in the creation of Google Chrome in 2008.??
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