As the U.S. Department of Justice moves into the remedy phase of its antitrust trial against Google, a clear picture is beginning to emerge, one that suggests a dramatic shift in the balance of power within the tech industry.
What’s at stake is not just a browser or search engine, but control over the very future of the internet. OpenAI, an artificial intelligence firm that only recently rose to prominence with the launch of ChatGPT, now appears to be positioning itself as the next great search behemoth, just as Google seeks to become a dominant force in artificial intelligence.
At the heart of this pivot is Chrome, the world’s most widely used browser. The DOJ argues that Google’s ownership and integration of Chrome have allowed it to illegally entrench its dominance in the search market—sidelining competition and cutting off user choice. The government wants to dismantle that structure. One of its boldest proposals is to force Google to divest Chrome entirely.
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 17 (June 9 – Sept 6, 2025) today for early bird discounts. Do annual for access to Blucera.com.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-invest in great global startups.
Register to become a better CEO or Director with Tekedia CEO & Director Program.
During testimony at the trial this week, Nick Turley, OpenAI’s head of product for ChatGPT, didn’t mince words. When asked whether his company would be interested in buying Chrome, he replied with a confident “Yes, we would, as would many other parties.” It’s a statement that made clear OpenAI’s broader ambitions go far beyond chatbots and language models.
While the trial continues to deliberate whether Google should be compelled to relinquish Chrome, OpenAI is already eyeing what comes next: transforming the browser into a gateway for AI-powered search and web experiences. The company, which is deeply partnered with Microsoft but clearly not content to rely solely on Bing’s infrastructure, appears to be laying the groundwork for a new search ecosystem—one that bypasses the traditional blue links and instead uses generative AI to answer questions, recommend content, and even act on behalf of the user.
Turley told the court that OpenAI had previously asked Google to license its search API. A leaked email presented during the trial revealed that OpenAI had argued such a deal would allow it to build a significantly better product. But Google, worried about losing its edge in search, rejected the offer.
This isn’t just a corporate dispute—it’s a signal.
OpenAI is pushing forward to become a search powerhouse at the very moment that Google is leaning into AI to redefine its own future. The roles, in many ways, are reversing. Where Google once reigned unchallenged in search, OpenAI is now the one building out that domain. Meanwhile, Google is investing heavily in AI development through its Gemini platform—previously Bard—and embedding AI tools throughout its services.
Just last month, Google announced it would integrate generative AI responses directly into traditional search results, a move that is meant to counter the growing influence of AI-first tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity AI. Google is also racing to close the innovation gap in large language models, seeking to reclaim attention in a field where OpenAI has gained both mindshare and market share.
Through Gemini, Google aims to bring AI to Gmail, Docs, Maps, and even Search itself—turning its services into dynamic platforms where AI understands user needs, interprets queries more contextually, and anticipates what users want before they finish typing. It is, in effect, trying to reimagine itself in the mold of OpenAI.
Against this backdrop, many industry observers now believe the DOJ’s antitrust probe may mark a pivotal turning point in this transformation.
If Google is forced to divest key assets like Chrome or to make its search index accessible to competitors, it will weaken the foundation that has sustained its dominance for two decades. This would create space for rivals like OpenAI to not only challenge Google’s supremacy in AI but also build a rival search empire on their own terms.
That future is not far-fetched
OpenAI has already begun recruiting top-tier browser engineers, including former Google developers Ben Goodger and Darin Fisher, both instrumental in building Chrome during its early days. The company is rumored to be working on a Chromium-based browser of its own, but owning Chrome outright would fast-track its strategy, giving it an install base in the billions and near-instant access to web-scale user data—essential for training and refining AI agents.
An “AI-first” Chrome, under OpenAI’s control, would likely bake ChatGPT into every corner of the browsing experience, acting not only as a search assistant but as a decision-making tool. It would represent the browser’s most radical evolution since its inception—moving from a passive information portal to an intelligent co-pilot.
However, even with its own AI investments, Google may not be able to stop the momentum. The very antitrust scrutiny it now faces was sparked by its aggressive moves to protect its search monopoly—multi-billion dollar deals with Apple, Samsung, and others to keep Google as the default engine on devices worldwide. That strategy is now under threat, and so is the empire built on it.
If Judge Amit Mehta ultimately rules in favor of the DOJ’s remedies, it would not just disrupt Google’s current business—it might usher in a new paradigm where the lines between browser, search engine, and AI assistant blur completely. In that future, the players that dominate AI could also dominate search, reversing the decades-long dominance Google has enjoyed.
A New Digital Power Map
In effect, we’re witnessing what many analysts now describe as a trade-off of dominance. OpenAI, once a research lab, is maturing into a search and browser competitor. Google, once king of search, is fighting to reinvent itself as an AI leader. And the DOJ’s antitrust probe may be the inflection point that allows or forces that evolution to happen.
Should Chrome be sold, and should OpenAI or another AI-native company take over, the story of web search would no longer be told in keywords and ranking algorithms. Instead, it would be told through prompts, responses, and AI agents that can interact with the digital world on our behalf.
The future of the internet may no longer be about who owns the most links—it may be about who owns the smartest assistant. And that’s a future the DOJ trial is now helping to define.