Many of them have left Google (and competitors) and work for a consulting firm called Igalia that contributes to all browser engines.

https://www.igalia.com/technology/browsers

> Currently, talented engineers flock to google to contribute their skills to making the best web browser.

I don’t think these engineers have the right incentives, and their interest is not aligned with mine. I don’t really care what they do to Chrome and their efforts benefit me only indirectly. I am also not convinced by the "best browser" thing, even using it every day on my office computer. So, meh. I don’t care too much either way but I won’t lose anything if Google has to spin it off.

Agreed! I was on Arc for a while and really enjoyed it (obviously Chromium-based), but have found that both Orion and Safari are phenomenal choices! I don’t see any reason to switch back, although I will admit that I keep Chrome around in case I need/want to cast content to a Chromecast-enabled device (until I find an inexpensive alternative to that).

This may have been the case 10 years ago; it isn't anymore. The writing's on the wall on Google going downhill pretty fast.