I fully agree it can, I was replying to your initial comment "I can't see how Google sells off Chrome and remains Google". It should be quite easy to see Google remain Google without a web browser, especially since it reached $200 billion market cap before adding one.
The important integrations have more to do with profile sync, crash reporting, the branding, the Chrome+ChromeOS portions of Google Workspace, or things of that type. Actually accessing the Google websites to the level you could from any other browser is not one of the tie-in issues. The same goes for the removal any cross promotion of services (e.g. google.com promoting installing Chrome) but that'd be pretty naturally severed if Chrome were 3rd party rather than Google (and is another example of how Chromium existing is not really the same story).
The important integrations have more to do with profile sync, crash reporting, the branding, the Chrome+ChromeOS portions of Google Workspace, or things of that type. Actually accessing the Google websites to the level you could from any other browser is not one of the tie-in issues. The same goes for the removal any cross promotion of services (e.g. google.com promoting installing Chrome) but that'd be pretty naturally severed if Chrome were 3rd party rather than Google (and is another example of how Chromium existing is not really the same story).