What's New in WebGPU (Chrome 139)

Chrome 139 introduces significant WebGPU enhancements including 3D texture support for BC and ASTC compressed formats, enabling efficient volumetric texture compression for scientific visualization and medical imaging. A new "core-features-and-limits" feature prepares for WebGPU compatibility mode, which enters origin trial to expand device support by running on older graphics APIs like OpenGL ES 3.1 and Direct3D11. The compatibility mode addresses the challenge that 31% of Windows Chrome users lack Direct3D 11.1+ support and 15% of Android users don't have Vulkan 1.1. Dawn updates include callback function improvements and shared memory compilation fixes.