Google launches a ‘neutral’ Chromium development fund

Google launched Chromium with its Chrome web browser in 2008. It’s the open-source infrastructure that powers Chrome and many other browsers built on it, including Microsoft Edge, Opera and Brave.

In addition to Google, there are already several notable companies on board with the initiative, including Meta, Microsoft and Opera. Microsoft said the union would help “provide clear and open governance that directs funds toward community-driven needs.”

Google also highlighted the more than 100,000 commitments it made to Chromium last year, as well as its efforts to “invest heavily” in the open-source project:

Google also continues to invest heavily in the shared infrastructure of the Open Source project to “keep the lights on”, including thousands of servers that endlessly run millions of tests, respond to hundreds of incoming bugs per day, ensuring that the important ones are fixed, and constantly invest in the health of the code to keep the whole project maintainable.

Although Google is trying to show the DOJ how much it contributes to Chromium, the creation of the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers suggests that the open-source project would still support without the involvement of the company.