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You’d think with all OpenAIs money, talent, and 10x devs due to AI they could make a new browser and capture that same feeling chrome did back in the day when i

You’d think with all OpenAIs money, talent, and 10x devs due to AI they could make a new browser and capture that same feeling chrome did back in the day when it first came out. That they did not is very telling about how the future is going to play out. This is a cash grab before the bubble pops.

terminalshort 1y ago
I don't think it's really possible to do that now just by throwing eng at it. Chrome being a monopoly hasn't actually stopped Google from improving it massively since it came out 17 years ago, so the bar is much higher. Browsers are a mature market now and I doubt that releasing something dramatically better than Chrome is possible just by engineering a better version of the same concept like Chrome was when it released. It would require a fundamentally novel breakthrough in UX design that renders Chrome obsolete, and that's much more likely to come out of a small startup than somewhere like OpenAI.
- sjxjxbx 1y ago
  Google has pushed enough anti consumer (pro big tech) policies and features that simply putting out a pro consumer product would be a defining feature.
  - terminalshort 1y ago
    What does a pro-consumer Chrome actually look like? There are, AFAIK, 4 business models for browsers: 1. You pay for it in cash 2. It's "free" but you pay for it with your data which is harvested and used to target ads at you 3. The weird Brave crypto model which basically does what 2 does, but you get some token for it 4. The Firefox sell your search traffic to Google model Number 1 gets completely blown out by 2 when they compete in the market to the point it doesn't exist anymore, so that's not really viable. 3 seems scammy and nobody really wants it anyway. 4 is what I use, but let's face it, it's just 2 light with better ad blocking. It's also probably on its last legs since the courts have ruled that Google can't buy default search (which ironically will probably enhance its monopoly position).
    - brycewray 1y ago
      > It's also probably on its last legs since the courts have ruled that Google can't buy default search (which ironically will probably enhance its monopoly position). "Under the court's ruling, Google will still be permitted to pay for search placement --- those multi-billion-dollar arrangements with Apple and Mozilla can continue." - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/google-wont-have-to-sell-chrome-judge-rules/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/google-wont-have-to-...
    - sjxjxbx 1y ago
      I am proposing a new model, yes. I’d like to see a pro American billionaire doing what’s good for the people instead of what’s maximally profitable. They could leverage profit in other areas to finance an unprofitable (but morally correct) business. Long term a regime change is needed because you will lose to immoral competitors, but it’s the only fight worth fighting. I also realize Sam Altman is a sociopath who would never do this.

terminalshort 1y ago

I don't think it's really possible to do that now just by throwing eng at it. Chrome being a monopoly hasn't actually stopped Google from improving it massively since it came out 17 years ago, so the bar is much higher. Browsers are a mature market now and I doubt that releasing something dramatically better than Chrome is possible just by engineering a better version of the same concept like Chrome was when it released. It would require a fundamentally novel breakthrough in UX design that renders Chrome obsolete, and that's much more likely to come out of a small startup than somewhere like OpenAI.

sjxjxbx 1y ago
Google has pushed enough anti consumer (pro big tech) policies and features that simply putting out a pro consumer product would be a defining feature.
- terminalshort 1y ago
  What does a pro-consumer Chrome actually look like? There are, AFAIK, 4 business models for browsers: 1. You pay for it in cash 2. It's "free" but you pay for it with your data which is harvested and used to target ads at you 3. The weird Brave crypto model which basically does what 2 does, but you get some token for it 4. The Firefox sell your search traffic to Google model Number 1 gets completely blown out by 2 when they compete in the market to the point it doesn't exist anymore, so that's not really viable. 3 seems scammy and nobody really wants it anyway. 4 is what I use, but let's face it, it's just 2 light with better ad blocking. It's also probably on its last legs since the courts have ruled that Google can't buy default search (which ironically will probably enhance its monopoly position).
  - brycewray 1y ago
    > It's also probably on its last legs since the courts have ruled that Google can't buy default search (which ironically will probably enhance its monopoly position). "Under the court's ruling, Google will still be permitted to pay for search placement --- those multi-billion-dollar arrangements with Apple and Mozilla can continue." - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/google-wont-have-to-sell-chrome-judge-rules/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/google-wont-have-to-...
  - sjxjxbx 1y ago
    I am proposing a new model, yes. I’d like to see a pro American billionaire doing what’s good for the people instead of what’s maximally profitable. They could leverage profit in other areas to finance an unprofitable (but morally correct) business. Long term a regime change is needed because you will lose to immoral competitors, but it’s the only fight worth fighting. I also realize Sam Altman is a sociopath who would never do this.