Illustration: The Verge
Google is partnering with The Linux Foundation to launch an initiative meant to “fund open development and enhance projects” in the Chromium ecosystem, according to an announcement on Thursday. The fund, called Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers, is billed as a “neutral” space to support Chromium projects.
Google launched Chromium alongside 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 joining will help “provide clear and open governance that directs funds towards community-driven needs.”
Image: Google
Google’s contributions to Chromium.
Google also highlighted the more than 100,000 commits it made to Chromium last year, as well as its efforts to “invest heavily” into 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 having thousands of servers endlessly running millions of tests, responding to hundreds of incoming bugs per day, ensuring the important ones get fixed, and constantly investing in code health to keep the whole project maintainable.
The creation of the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers initiative comes months after the US Department of Justice demanded that Google sell Chrome as part of its proposed remedies following the ruling that Google is a monopolist. In response, Google proposed eliminating exclusive deals that make Google the default search engine on web browsers like Safari and Mozilla for three years.
Even if Google is attempting to show the DOJ how much it contributes to Chromium, the creation of the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers suggests the open-source project would still have backing without the company’s involvement.