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In a bold and unexpected move, AI-powered search startup Perplexity has made an unsolicited $34.5 billion all-cash bid to acquire Google’s Chrome browser. The company confirmed the offer, positioning it as a strategic leap in the race for AI-driven search dominance.
The proposal comes with several commitments aimed at easing regulatory concerns. Perplexity says it will keep Chrome’s core codebase, Chromium, open source and invest $3 billion into the project over the next two years.
The company has also pledged not to alter Chrome’s default user settings, meaning Google Search would remain the default search engine, to maintain user choice and prevent immediate disruption.
The bid arrives amid mounting legal challenges for Google. Earlier this year, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed that Google be required to divest Chrome after a court found it had illegally maintained a monopoly in online search.
While Google has vowed to appeal, regulators are also pursuing separate antitrust action targeting its advertising technology business.
A ruling on potential remedies in the search monopoly case is expected later this month from Judge Amit Mehta. However, legal experts caution that any forced sale could face years of appeals, potentially reaching the Supreme Court.
Perplexity is not the only interested party. OpenAI, Yahoo, and Apollo Global Management have also expressed interest in Chrome should it be put up for sale. The browser currently dominates with a 68% global market share, giving it more than three billion users worldwide.
Despite the scale of the offer, it falls short of the $50 billion-plus valuation estimated earlier this year by DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg.
Analysts believe Chrome’s vast user base and integration with Google’s services make it a cornerstone of the company’s AI and search ambitions, making a sale unlikely without a prolonged legal battle.
Also Read: Perplexity Pro vs. ChatGPT Plus: Which AI Tool is Better?
Perplexity has raised about $1.5 billion to date, with a valuation of $18 billion as of last month, far below the size of its offer. The startup claims multiple investment funds have offered to fully finance the deal, though it has not disclosed their names.
The company, led by CEO Aravind Srinivas, recently launched its own AI browser, Comet, designed to perform tasks on behalf of users. Owning Chrome, Perplexity argues, would allow it to directly compete with larger AI rivals like OpenAI by leveraging the browser’s massive reach.
Industry analysts remain skeptical that Google will part with Chrome, especially as it integrates AI-generated search summaries to protect its market share. Still, the unsolicited bid highlights how browsers have re-emerged as critical gateways to search traffic and to the AI tools that will shape the next era of the internet.
