Perplexity AI has tabled an unsolicited all-cash offer of US$34.5 billion for Alphabet’s Chrome browser, a move that dwarfs the startup’s valuation and targets more than three billion users central to the AI search race.
The three-year-old company, run by Aravind Srinivas, has a history of audacious proposals, having previously offered to merge with TikTok US to address Washington’s concerns over its Chinese ownership. On Tuesday, Perplexity said multiple funds had committed to fully financing the Chrome deal, without naming them. The startup, backed by investors including Nvidia and Japan’s SoftBank, has so far raised about US$1 billion and was last valued at US$14 billion.
A term sheet seen by Reuters shows Perplexity would keep Chromium, the browser’s underlying code, open source, invest US$3 billion over two years and maintain Chrome’s default search engine. The company stressed the offer carried no equity component and aimed to preserve user choice while easing competition concerns.
Google has not offered Chrome for sale and declined to comment. The tech giant plans to appeal a US court ruling last year that found it held an unlawful monopoly in online search, with the Justice Department pushing for Chrome’s divestiture as part of the case’s remedies. Analysts have said Google is unlikely to sell and would mount a long legal fight to avoid such an outcome.
“Judge Mehta is a pretty orthodox guy. It’s very possible that he would hold off on requiring a sale until the appeals process is worked out,” said University of Pennsylvania law professor Herbert Hovenkamp, noting the matter could run for years through the DC Circuit and potentially the Supreme Court.
The bid falls short of the US$50 billion valuation suggested by DuckDuckGo chief executive Gabriel Weinberg should Chrome be put on the block. Nevertheless, it comes at a time when browsers are regaining prominence as crucial gateways to search traffic and user data, key battlegrounds for Big Tech’s AI ambitions.
Perplexity already operates Comet, an AI browser capable of performing tasks on a user’s behalf, and acquiring Chrome would put it in a stronger position to challenge rivals such as OpenAI, which is also developing an AI-enabled browser.
Reuters
