Key Points
- AI startup Perplexity has made a surprise $34.5 billion bid for Google’s Chrome browser.
- The bid follows a U.S. Justice Department proposal that Google should be forced to sell Chrome after losing an antitrust case.
- The offer is much higher than Perplexity’s own $18 billion valuation, but the company says it has investor backing.
- The DOJ believes selling Chrome would break Google’s search monopoly and create a fairer market.
AI startup Perplexity has made a surprise $34.5 billion bid to buy Google’s Chrome browser. The unsolicited offer comes as Google faces pressure from the U.S. government to sell off the popular browser following a major antitrust loss.
The bid comes right after the Department of Justice suggested that Google should be forced to sell Chrome. A judge recently ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly in the search market, and the DOJ believes that selling Chrome would break Google’s stranglehold and create a fairer market for competitors.
The $34.5 billion price tag is a huge amount, especially since Perplexity itself is only valued at around $18 billion. However, the startup says it has already lined up several investors who have agreed to back the deal. Perplexity is known for its AI-powered search engine and recently launched its own browser, called Comet.
This bold move comes amid a fierce battle for dominance in the AI world. Tech giants are investing tens of billions in AI infrastructure, while startups are securing substantial funding to compete for top talent and technology. Perplexity’s bid is a clear sign of how aggressively smaller companies are willing to play to challenge the established giants.
Google has not yet responded to Perplexity’s offer. Still, it has strongly opposed the idea of selling Chrome, calling the DOJ’s proposal “radical” and “wildly overbroad.”
