Kristina Roberts
Artificial intelligence start-up Perplexity has shocked the tech industry by making a $34.5 billion (£25.6bn) takeover offer for Google’s Chrome browser — a platform with over three billion users worldwide.
In a letter to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Perplexity said transferring Chrome to an independent operator committed to user safety would benefit the public. The proposal includes keeping Google as the default search engine within Chrome, while allowing users to change settings, and continuing support for Chromium, the open-source framework behind Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera.
Despite the announcement, industry experts doubt the seriousness of the bid. Technology investor Heath Ahrens called it “a stunt” and said Chrome’s real value could be far higher, given its unmatched data and reach. Tomasz Tunguz of Theory Ventures estimated Chrome might be worth up to ten times more than Perplexity’s offer. Google has not commented and has given no indication it plans to sell.
The bid comes as Google faces mounting antitrust scrutiny in the US, with a federal judge expected to rule soon on a case that could force the company to restructure its search business. Google has already pushed back against the idea of spinning off Chrome, calling it unprecedented and potentially harmful to consumers and security.
Perplexity, valued at around $18 billion in July, has been making bold moves in the AI sector. Alongside launching its own AI-powered browser, Comet, last month, it previously made an offer to buy TikTok’s US operations. The start-up has also reportedly attracted interest from tech giants like Apple and Meta.
Whether this latest move is a genuine acquisition attempt or a calculated publicity play, it has certainly positioned Perplexity at the center of the AI and browser wars.
