Third day posting about this:
Chrome's cash value is probably a lot higher than $34.5B but the bid might be smart to ask for a discount. There might be a discount anyway if Google is forced to sell, but more importantly, Google might be fine with giving it away dirt cheap in order to remove single-party accountability for millions (if not billions) of Android and ChromeOS users.
For example, this would effect anyone that uses a Chrome-extension-based crypto wallet on a Google-made system. Today, if the extension is open-source, users can verify the code for themselves to rule out any issues with the wallet causing any loss of funds, and then they don't need top secret access to all the proprietary components of Chrome and the rest of the system to identify a culprit, because the people at Google take responsibility for all of that under their brand name.
If Google can get rid of Chrome, billions of Android users can just overnight suddenly lose the option of installing certain open-source browser extensions with single-party accountability for external failures. That's just the first effect I can think of, but there are so many more - the principle of single-party accountability applies to so many things.
Want to keep your banking login on a single Chromebook and not enter the password anywhere else, so you know Google is responsible if your saved password leaks? Gonna have to use a Mac or something now.
Countless people's options are seriously damaged by fucking with single-party accountability like this, and that's what's really worth way more than $34.5 B about the deal. #grownostr