Google won't launch its Android-ChromeOS hybrid until 2028, according to previously unreported court documents from the company's search antitrust case. While Android chief Sameer Samat told the public last September that the merger was coming in 2026, internal timelines reveal a much slower rollout - with enterprise and education customers waiting until 2028 for full access. The delay comes as Google quietly secured antitrust exemptions that could shield Aluminium OS from the monopoly restrictions now applied to its Android smartphone business.
Google just pushed back the future of its laptop business by two years, and the tech giant managed to do it while securing a controversial exemption from antitrust restrictions. Court documents obtained by The Verge reveal that Project Aluminium - Google's much-hyped merger of Android and ChromeOS - won't reach consumers until 2028, contradicting public statements from executives who promised a 2026 debut.
The revelation surfaced in August 2025 testimony from Sameer Samat, Google's head of Android, during the company's search monopoly trial. When asked directly if Google planned to launch Aluminium in 2026, Samat hedged: "We hope so. We're working hard on it." His caution proved warranted. Google's own legal filings describe a timeline where the new OS reaches "commercial trusted testers" in late 2026 before a full release in 2028.
That's a significant departure from the narrative Google's been spinning publicly. Last September, Samat told the tech press that combining Android and Chrome was "something we're super excited about for next year" - a statement that now looks like classic corporate misdirection. The leaked Aluminium OS video that circulated last week and reports of Intel Panther Lake laptops codenamed "Ruby" suggested imminent arrival. Reality tells a different story.
The delay hits hardest in education and enterprise, the sectors where ChromeOS built its reputation. Google's court filings explicitly state these customers won't see Aluminium until 2028, not 2026. That's a problem, considering Chromebooks dominate US classrooms with roughly 50% market share. Schools that invested heavily in Google's education ecosystem now face years of uncertainty about whether their hardware will even support the transition.
And many devices won't make the cut. John Maletis, Google's head of ChromeOS, told Chrome Unboxed that "not all devices will be able to migrate over to the new stack" due to technical specifications. Google will honor its 10-year support commitment for existing Chromebooks, but that support means staying on ChromeOS, not upgrading to Aluminium. The company plans to maintain ChromeOS through 2033 specifically because existing hardware can't run the new OS.
Then comes the kill date. Google's lawyers revealed the company intends to "phase out ChromeOS" entirely by 2034, as soon as legally permissible under various jurisdictions' device support requirements. It's a remarkably frank admission that ChromeOS is on death row, just waiting for the execution window to open.
But the timeline isn't the only controversial revelation. While Google was arguing it couldn't possibly sell Chrome without damaging ChromeOS support, the company's attorneys were simultaneously securing an antitrust carve-out that could prove far more significant than the delayed launch.
Judge Amit Mehta's final judgment in US v. Google bans the company from making self-preferencing deals that tie Google Search to other products - but only on certain devices. According to the ruling, any device "on which the ChromeOS operating system or a successor to the ChromeOS operating system is installed" doesn't count. That exemption appears to cover Aluminium, even though it's primarily Android-based.
The practical effect? While Google can't tell Motorola that Android phones must default to Google Search, it apparently can require laptop makers to prioritize Google's browser and services on Aluminium devices. Judge Mehta justified this by noting that "Chrome is a necessary component of a ChromeOS device." Whether Chrome will be equally "necessary" for what's essentially Android on laptops remains to be seen.
Court documents suggest Google may be designing that necessity rather than accepting it. Internal diagrams show Chrome and first-party Google apps operating as privileged system components in Aluminium, while third-party apps run in a separate, more restricted layer. That architectural choice could make Chrome genuinely essential - or it could be intentional lock-in dressed up as technical requirements.
The exemption doesn't stop at search remedies. Google and Epic Games recently proposed a settlement in their Play Store antitrust case that would limit new restrictions to smartphones and tablets running "the Android operating system." If approved, that language could exclude Aluminium laptops and desktops entirely, even though they're built on Android foundations. Google declined to comment on whether this represents a deliberate strategy to shield its PC ambitions from antitrust scrutiny.
The situation puts Microsoft and Apple in an awkward position. Both companies face their own antitrust pressures around app store policies and browser defaults. If Google successfully argues that Aluminium needs special privileges to function properly, it undermines the case that Windows and macOS should open up their ecosystems. Conversely, if regulators crack down on Aluminium's Google-centric design, it could accelerate pressure on the dominant PC platforms.
For hardware partners like Lenovo, the delayed timeline complicates product planning. Reports indicate Lenovo is building both the Ruby laptop and Sapphire tablet for Aluminium's debut. A two-year pushback means those devices either ship with ChromeOS and promise a future upgrade, or sit in development limbo while the market moves on. Neither option inspires confidence in Google's commitment to the PC market.
The education sector faces particularly thorny decisions. School IT departments need to plan device purchases years in advance. Do they continue buying Chromebooks knowing they'll never run Aluminium? Do they wait for the new OS and risk their current devices aging out? Google's court filings don't provide answers, only the certainty that change is coming slower than advertised.
Google's Aluminium OS reveals a pattern that's become familiar in big tech: promise disruption publicly while negotiating protection privately. The 2028 timeline means schools, businesses, and consumers face years of uncertainty about Google's PC strategy. More troubling is the antitrust exemption that could let Google rebuild the same monopolistic practices on laptops that courts just banned on phones. Whether Aluminium represents genuine innovation or strategic maneuvering to avoid regulatory scrutiny won't be clear until 2028 - assuming Google actually ships on time this round. For now, ChromeOS users are stuck in limbo, and Google's competitors are watching to see if the company successfully carves out a regulatory safe harbor for its next platform play.
