Google says it’s the only one capable of ensuring Chrome works properly

In a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department against Google to sell its Chrome browser, the browser’s general manager, Parisa Tabriz, argued in court Friday that Google is the only one that can provide such a high level of functionality for the Chrome web browser given its “interdependencies” with other Alphabet units.

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«”Chrome today is the result of 17 years of collaboration between the Chrome team and the rest of Google,” said Parisa Tabriz. She pointed out that some of the browser’s features, such as Safe Browsing mode or the system that notifies users when their password has been compromised, are based on Google’s shared infrastructure, which is not just the responsibility of Chrome. “I don’t think that could be recreated,” said Tabriz, who testified in court for several hours.

The browser is based on the open-source Chromium project. Chromium was created by Google, but also benefits from support from other companies, including Meta✴ Platforms, Microsoft, and the Linux Foundation.

Earlier on Friday, James Mickens, a Harvard computer science professor and a US Justice Department computer science expert, said Google could transfer ownership of Chrome to another company without breaking its functionality.

«”It would be technically feasible to divest Chrome,” says Mickens. “It would be feasible to transfer ownership and not disrupt too much.” He previously served as an expert witness for Epic Games’ Fortnite in an antitrust case with Google over the Android ecosystem.

Mickens argues that even without Chrome, Google would still have incentives to continue contributing to the Chromium open-source project that underlies its browser and those of its competitors.

In turn, Tabriz said that Google has contributed more than 90% of the code for Chromium since 2015. “Google is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Chromium,” she said, noting that 1,000 specialists from her division participated in the project. Other companies “are not making any significant contribution right now,” Tabriz emphasized.