Google's 'Neutral' Chromium Development Fund Initiative

Google's Collaboration with The Linux Foundation

Google has embarked on a new partnership with The Linux Foundation, launching an initiative designed to "fund open development and enhance projects" within the Chromium ecosystem. This new fund, named "Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers," is presented as a "neutral" platform aimed at supporting various Chromium projects.

Chromium, initially launched by Google in 2008 alongside the Chrome web browser, serves as the open-source infrastructure for Chrome and several other browsers including Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Brave.

Industry Participation and Interest

Aside from Google, several prominent companies are participating in this initiative, such as Meta, Microsoft, and Opera. Microsoft has indicated that its involvement will help "provide clear and open governance that directs funds towards community-driven needs."

Google's Commitment to Open Source

Google has highlighted its contributions to the Chromium project, citing over 100,000 commits last year and emphasizing its ongoing investment in the open-source project:

Google continues to invest heavily in the shared infrastructure of the Open Source project to 'keep the lights on', including having thousands of servers running millions of tests, addressing hundreds of incoming bugs daily, ensuring critical issues are fixed, and constantly investing in code health to maintain the entire project.

Regulatory Context and Future Implications

This initiative arises in the wake of the US Department of Justice's demand that Google sell Chrome as part of its proposed remedies after ruling Google as a monopolist. In response, Google suggested eliminating exclusive deals that make it the default search engine on browsers like Safari and Mozilla for a three-year period.

While Google is making efforts to demonstrate to the DOJ the extent of its contribution to Chromium, the establishment of the "Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers" indicates that the open-source project could continue to thrive even without Google's involvement.