Google claims no one else can maintain Chrome at its current level

During the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust trial against Google, the company made a bold statement: selling Chrome without damaging its functionality would be impossible.

Parisa Tabriz, General Manager of Chrome, emphasized that the browser is deeply tied to Google's broader infrastructure, and only Google itself can maintain its current quality.

Chrome today represents 17 years of collaboration between the Chrome people, Tabriz stated.

She explained that critical features like Safe Browsing and password breach alerts rely on services and technologies outside the Chrome division. Rebuilding that elsewhere, she said, would be nearly impossible.

However, Harvard professor and DOJ expert James Mickens disagreed, arguing that separating Chrome would be technically feasible and wouldn’t cause critical damage. He also noted that Google would still have strong incentives to support Chromium — the open-source base of Chrome and other browsers — even if a sale occurred.