In a bold attempt to disrupt the search-engine status quo and harness one of the internet’s most powerful gateways, artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI has made a $34.5 billion unsolicited cash offer for Alphabet’s Chrome web browser, according to people familiar with the matter.
The bid, dwarfing Perplexity’s own last valuation of $14 billion, underscores the fierce competition accelerating in AI-powered search.
The three-year-old San Francisco-based startup, fronted by CEO Aravind Srinivas, has a flair for audacious moves. Earlier this year, Perplexity floated a high-profile merger proposal with TikTok’s U.S. operations amid swirling concerns over Chinese ownership of the video app.
Now, the company is setting its sights on a pivotal tool: the Chrome browser, which commands more than three billion users worldwide and serves as a central avenue for online search and data.
Perplexity’s ambitions have not gone unnoticed. Other interested suitors circling Chrome reportedly include OpenAI, Yahoo, and Apollo Global Management.
Their interest comes as Alphabet faces mounting legal and regulatory threats; the U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing remedies that could include forcing Google to divest the browser, after a federal ruling last year found the company maintained an illegal monopoly in search.
Alphabet has not officially put Chrome up for sale and is preparing to appeal the monopoly ruling in an attempt to retain control of its critical software asset.
Meanwhile, legal experts predict protracted litigation before any asset sale can occur. Judge Amit Mehta, who is presiding over the remedies phase of the antitrust case, is expected to rule soon but could hold off on divestiture until the appeals process is fully exhausted—a journey that could take years and potentially reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Perplexity’s proposal, detailed in a term sheet viewed by Reuters, promises to keep Chrome’s underlying Chromium code open source, to invest $3 billion into the browser over two years, and to leave Chrome’s default search engine unchanged.
The company indicated funding could be secured through unnamed backers, though some analysts questioned its ability to finance the deal outright. Perplexity’s own AI browser, Comet, is positioned as an emerging challenger to industry titans, capable of leveraging Chrome’s scale to supercharge its AI ecosystem if the acquisition were to succeed.
Shares of Alphabet rose 1.6% on Tuesday amid the takeover buzz. Still, uncertainty looms over Chrome’s fate, especially given estimates that the browser could fetch significantly more than Perplexity’s bid if a forced sale comes to pass. DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg recently suggested Chrome’s value might exceed $50 billion.
