In a stunning move, AI startup Perplexity has made a $34.5 billion all-cash offer to acquire Google’s Chrome browser. The unsolicited bid, announced on August 12, comes despite Perplexity’s last valuation being just $14 billion. The offer is bold, unexpected, and could reshape the browser and AI search landscape if successful.
Founded by Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity has already developed its own AI-powered browser, Comet. By acquiring Chrome and its more than three billion users, the company aims to directly challenge giants like OpenAI in the AI search race. Industry experts say this could give Perplexity a massive edge in gaining search traffic and valuable user data.
Perplexity has not detailed how it plans to fund the offer. So far, the startup has raised around $1 billion from investors such as Nvidia and SoftBank. However, sources claim multiple investment funds are ready to fully back the deal, though no names have been disclosed.
Although Google has not commented, it has never shown interest in selling Chrome. Still, pressure is mounting. A U.S. court ruling last year found Google held an unlawful monopoly in search, and the Justice Department may push for Chrome’s divestiture as part of the remedy. A federal judge is expected to rule on this soon.
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Perplexity isn’t the only interested party. OpenAI, Yahoo, and Apollo Global Management have also reportedly considered acquiring Chrome. Perplexity’s bid includes a $3 billion investment over two years, promises to keep Chromium open-source, and vows not to alter Chrome’s default search engine all to ease regulatory concerns.
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