For sale: one browser, very popular. As the remedies phase of the Google Search trial heats up, two things have become very clear. The US government would really like to force Google to sell Chrome, and there are a lot of companies interested in buying it. What do you really get when you buy the world's most popular browser, though? And what would it really cost?
On this episode of The Vergecast, Nilay, David, and The Verge's Jake Kastrenakes try and find the right buyer for Chrome. But before that, we have some news to get to. News including that we won the Webby Award for Best Technology Podcast! Thanks again to everyone who voted for us — we were up against some excellent competition, and we're thrilled you picked us. We also have some Party Speaker Capitalism Updates, some thoughts and stories about trying to buy a Switch 2, and a lot of confusing new information about tariffs. I mean, it's one gadget, Michael. What could it cost, ten dollars?
After that, we head into the courtroom, where both Google and Meta are fighting for their antitrust lives. We talk about what the trial means for AI companies and search competitors alike, and why there aren't as many realistic Chrome buyers as you might think. There might only be one that makes sense. (One we fail to even consider: Yahoo, which said it was interested just after we finished recording.) We also discuss Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom's scorching testimony in the Meta trial, and why it might be damaging to Meta's case.
If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, first in gadget and tariff news:
And in the lightning round:
