The new project will fund and support open source Chromium projects

Google has said that agreed and the Linux Foundation to launch a new initiative called “Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers.” Currently, most of the money that keeps Chromium, the open source web project that created the codebase powering Chrome, comes from Google. The company says it has no intention of reducing its offering going forward, but continues to “welcome additional investors to invest more.”

Led by the Linux Foundation, the new project aims to fund open source Chromium projects and ensure proper support for contributions that can lead to technological progress. It is also meant to provide a “neutral space” where developers, academic members and major industry players can work together. Apart from Google, MicrosoftMeta and Opera have also pledged to support the project.

Google said it launched the new program after hearing from “many companies and developers about how important the Chromium project is to their work” and how they would like to offer it beyond years of technical support. Chrome is one of the browsers built on Chromium – Microsoft Edge and Opera are also based on the project’s codebase, so their participation in the initiative is not really surprising.

It is worth noting that the Department of Justice requested the end of Google last year, including sales of the Chrome browser. Google said in its announcement that it intends to continue supporting the Chromium project, but only time will tell if selling Chrome will affect its offerings.