Google won’t be forced to sell Chrome after all

Google has avoided being forced to sell its popular web browser Chrome, as the US government's antitrust case against the tech giant has been resolved, pending appeal. The court ruled that the government prosecutors could not prove that Google's dominance in the browser space was essential to its illegal monopoly in search. As a result, Google will not have to divest Chrome or its Android mobile operating system. However, the company will have to provide search index data and user metrics to some of its competitors. This is seen as a loss for Google, especially as it faces competition from emerging "AI" search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity. The ruling is considered a "slap on the wrist" for Google, which maintains its dominance in the tech industry. The decision also has implications for the future of Chromium, the open-source project that underpins Chrome and ChromeOS, as well as other browsers that rely on it. While the biggest shakeup in online power has been averted for now, Google may still appeal the ruling, and the tech landscape continues to evolve rapidly.