Nick Turley who leads product development at OpenAI told a judge that the company would buy Chrome browser from Google if the U.S. Department of Justice achieves its goal of forcing divestiture according to Reuters. The statement emerged during the remedies phase of the U.S. v. Google case after Judge Amit Mehta established Google’s monopoly in online search in 2024. Google plans to appeal the decision.
During his testimony Turley explained that OpenAI contacted Google in 2023 to establish a partnership which would allow ChatGPT to use Google search technology instead of Bing search. According to Bloomberg Turley explained that an unnamed search provider known as “Provider No. 1” demonstrated major quality problems. The OpenAI email shown during the trial revealed that having both Google’s API and additional partners would produce a better product according to Reuters. The company rejected the partnership opportunity and Turley confirmed that no partnership exists between the two companies at present.
Turley disclosed OpenAI’s ongoing work to build its own search index during the trial. The company planned to base 80% of ChatGPT searches on its internal index by late 2025 but Turley now believes this timeline will extend into multiple years according to Bloomberg. OpenAI continues to pursue better search functionality through Chrome acquisition because the DOJ demands solutions to reduce Google’s market control.
