Ecosia Proposes "Stewardship" of Google's Chrome Browser

Ecosia, a Berlin-based non-profit search engine, has proposed to take "stewardship" of Google's Chrome browser, rather than forcing Google to sell it to a competitor. The proposal suggests Ecosia would manage Chrome for 10 years, generating revenue for climate projects while paying Google 40% of the revenue. Ecosia believes Chrome is worth $1 trillion and could generate hundreds of billions.

Berlin-based non-profit search engine Ecosia has submitted a proposal to the U.S. court overseeing the Google antitrust case, requesting a 10-year "stewardship" of Google's Chrome browser instead of forcing Google to sell it to a competitor [1]. The proposal, submitted on Thursday, aims to address the judge's ruling on remedies for Google's alleged monopoly in internet search and advertising.

According to the proposal, Ecosia would manage Chrome for 10 years, generating revenue for climate projects while paying Google 40% of the revenue [1]. The proposal suggests that Chrome could generate $1 trillion over the next decade and an auction could price it "in the hundreds of billions" [1]. Ecosia plans to reinvest part of Chrome's profits in climate action, such as protecting rainforests, global tree-planting, and agroforestry, as well as prosecuting polluters and investing in green AI tech [1].

Ecosia's CEO, Christian Kroll, believes that the stewardship idea is not absurd, given that Ecosia already has a revenue-share partnership with Google and offers its own browser built on the Chromium open-source engine [1]. The proposal also includes maintaining employment for the Chrome staff and ensuring that Google retains intellectual property ownership and can continue to be the default search engine [1].

Ecosia's proposal is a creative alternative to the typical divesture options of selling or spinning off Chrome, which would keep its power and billions in the pockets of big tech [1]. The proposal aims to get the judge to consider alternatives that could potentially lead to more meaningful outcomes for the public interest [1].

Google has not yet responded to the proposal, but competitors such as OpenAI and Perplexity have expressed interest in acquiring Chrome, with Perplexity making an unsolicited $34.5 billion cash offer last week [2]. However, the offer was widely panned as being too low and far above Perplexity's own valuation [2].

References:
[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ecosia-offered-stewardship-chrome-not-200247209.html
[2] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/germanys-ecosia-proposes-stewardship-run-124201408.html