Perplexity Makes An Unsolicited $35 Billion Offer For Google Chrome

AI firm Perplexity has made an unsolicited $34.5 billion offer to buy Google Chrome — the world’s most popular internet browser.

The Big Bet: Following Google’s guilty verdict for monopolizing the web-search market, US District Judge Amit Mehta is weighing whether to force the tech giant to sell Chrome as part of the remedy. While many analysts doubt Mehta will go that far, plenty of interested buyers are circling — including Perplexity rival OpenAI. But with Perplexity’s formal offer already on the table, Mehta could see an opportunity to greenlight a sale, knowing there’s cash ready to change hands.

Behind The Offer: Perplexity’s offer for Chrome is nearly double the value of the AI firm — $18 billion after its latest fundraise.

• Perplexity said it has already lined up “several investors — including large venture-capital funds — who have agreed to back the transaction in full,” per The WSJ.
• In an open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the offer is “designed to satisfy an antitrust remedy in the highest public interest by placing Chrome with a capable, independent operator.”
• The startup plans to continue funding and operating Chromium, an open-source codebase that supports Chrome and other browsers like Microsoft Edge and Opera.
• Google would remain the default search engine on Chrome, though users could easily change it.

The Future: With 3.5 billion users and commanding 68% of the global web-browser market, Chrome’s estimated value sits between $20 and $50 billion… so Perplexity’s offer splits the difference. The only problem is that Google really doesn’t want to sell the browser and has already made it clear that it plans to appeal Mehta’s ruling.

Not that Perplexity cares. The startup, run by Google alum Aravind Srinivas, seems to believe that AI-search dominance will be supercharged by controlling a popular browser — the conduit through which chatbots curate their answers. It’s a little like EV-makers owning the lithium mines that power their batteries. That’s why Perplexity recently launched its own browser, Comet.

Prediction: If Perplexity’s gambit fails, the tables could turn — with Google potentially eyeing the AI upstart for acquisition instead. Either way, the battle lines for the future of search are drawn.