Perplexity Makes $34.5 Billion Bid for Google’s Chrome

AI start-up Perplexity has made a surprise $34.5 billion bid for Google’s Chrome browser, a move that has shocked the tech industry and raised questions about antitrust pressure, corporate ambition, and whether such a deal could ever succeed.

Perplexity

Perplexity is a San Francisco-based company founded in 2022 by Aravind Srinivas, a former Google and OpenAI researcher. Despite being just three years old, the firm has already become one of the highest-profile challengers in the generative AI space. Its core product is a real-time AI-powered search engine that provides conversational answers with source links, setting it apart from rivals like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

The company has attracted major backing, including funding from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, chipmaker Nvidia, and Japan’s SoftBank, and was valued at around $18 billion as recently as July. Perplexity says it now serves around 30 million monthly active users and has partnerships with publishers such as Time and the Los Angeles Times.

Last month, it launched Comet, an AI-native browser designed to help users summarise web content, manage tabs more intelligently, and automate tasks such as scheduling and online shopping. Comet combines local device processing with cloud-based models, including GPT-5, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s own Gemini. Srinivas has described it as a “cognitive operating system” rather than a conventional browser.

The Offer For Chrome

On 12 August, Perplexity confirmed that it had made a formal $34.5 billion all-cash offer to acquire Chrome, the world’s most widely used browser with an estimated three billion users. The offer was unsolicited, and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has not indicated any willingness to sell Chrome.

Perplexity framed the bid as an effort to preserve the principles of the open web, pledging to keep Chromium, the open-source foundation of Chrome that also underpins Microsoft Edge and Opera, fully maintained. It also promised to invest $3 billion over two years in development and to retain Google as the default search engine inside Chrome, while allowing users to change provider more easily.

Why Make This Move Now?

The timing is no accident. Google is awaiting the outcome of a major US antitrust case that found it had unlawfully monopolised the search market by locking in default search agreements with device manufacturers and browser developers. Judge Amit Mehta is due to decide on remedies, and one of the Justice Department’s proposed options is that Google could be forced to divest Chrome.

By making its bid public now, therefore, Perplexity is positioning itself as a ready buyer if regulators force a sale. The company has argued that moving Chrome into independent ownership would be in the “highest public interest” and would protect user choice.

It also reflects a broader shift in how browsers are seen in the AI era. For example, with the rise of conversational search, browsers have regained importance as gateways to traffic, data, and default search settings. Controlling Chrome, which has more than 60 per cent of the global browser market, could give Perplexity a huge distribution advantage for its own AI search technology.

Could It Succeed?

It appears that many analysts remain highly sceptical about Perplexity’s chances of success. For example, Perplexity’s own valuation is only about half the size of the bid it has put forward, and while the company has claimed that multiple funds are willing to finance the deal, it has not named them.

Estimates of Chrome’s true value vary, with some industry figures suggesting it could be worth $50 billion or more, far higher than Perplexity’s offer. Even if regulators order a sale, Google has said it would appeal, warning that divestiture would damage innovation, user privacy, and security. Legal experts believe that a final decision could take years to resolve, possibly extending through appeals to the Supreme Court.

For now, Google has given no indication it would entertain the bid. Alphabet executives have consistently argued that Chrome is central to its strategy, not just as a browser but as a linchpin connecting billions of users to its search engine and advertising business.

What Would It Mean for Perplexity?

If Perplexity somehow succeeded, acquiring Chrome would instantly transform it from a rising AI challenger into a dominant player in the internet ecosystem. Chrome’s reach would provide an unrivalled platform to push its AI search engine, while the promise to maintain Google as the default search provider could ease antitrust scrutiny.

It would also allow Perplexity to leapfrog competitors like OpenAI, which has been working on its own AI browser, and other search challengers such as DuckDuckGo. Integrating Chrome’s scale with Perplexity’s AI could accelerate the shift toward AI-native browsing, potentially changing how users interact with information online.

However, absorbing Chrome’s three billion users would also pose huge operational and financial challenges. For example, maintaining a browser of that size requires vast infrastructure, security resources, and compliance mechanisms. For a start-up, even one backed by high-profile investors, this would be an extraordinary undertaking.

What Would It Mean for Google?

For Google, losing Chrome would, of course, be a major blow. The browser is not only a product in its own right but also a strategic entry point for its search business, helping to sustain its advertising revenue. Chrome also serves as a platform for integrating new AI features such as generative overviews within search results.

Without Chrome, Google would be forced to rely more heavily on agreements with rival browsers and devices, weakening its distribution power. That is precisely why regulators see divestiture as one of the strongest remedies to restore competition in the search market.

Reactions and Criticisms

Reactions to the bid have been mixed. For example, some industry observers view it as a bold statement of intent from a company looking to define the future of web search. Others see it as unrealistic, pointing out that Perplexity has not disclosed firm financing and may simply be using the offer to raise its profile.

Scepticism has also focused on whether Perplexity’s promise to keep Google as the default search engine would truly benefit competition, or whether it is more about reassuring regulators. Critics argue that Chrome’s value lies not only in its codebase but also in its role as a pipeline for search and advertising data, which cannot easily be separated from Google’s wider ecosystem.

Business users are also likely to be watching closely. Chrome is the default browser in many workplaces, chosen for its compatibility, speed, and integration with enterprise tools. Any change of ownership could raise questions about data handling, support, and continuity, particularly if Perplexity sought to integrate more AI-driven features.

For now though, the move has generated significant debate about the future of browsers, competition, and AI in the digital economy, regardless of whether the deal itself has any chance of success.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Perplexity’s bid may be as much about timing and visibility as it is about ownership. With Google under pressure in the US courts, the possibility of a forced sale has moved from theory to something regulators may genuinely consider. By stepping forward now, Perplexity is signalling that it wants to be part of the solution if Chrome is prised away from Google, even if the financial and legal obstacles make that outcome unlikely in the near term.

For UK businesses, the implications are not trivial. For example, Chrome dominates the workplace browser market, and any change in ownership could alter how security, updates, and AI integrations are delivered. A Perplexity-controlled Chrome might accelerate the introduction of AI-native features into day-to-day browsing, offering new efficiencies but also raising fresh questions about data handling and reliance on emerging players. IT teams and decision-makers would need to weigh the potential benefits of AI-powered functionality against the stability that comes with Google’s long-established stewardship.

Investors and regulators will also be watching carefully. If a start-up with a fraction of Google’s size and revenue can credibly put forward an offer of this scale, it signals how central browsers have once again become in the race to dominate AI-driven search. It also shows how antitrust scrutiny is changing the competitive landscape, opening the door to bids and proposals that would once have been unthinkable.

In practical terms, Google’s strong resistance and the length of any appeals process mean Chrome is unlikely to change hands quickly. However, the bid alone has reframed the conversation about the browser’s future. Whether as a serious takeover attempt or as a calculated move to raise its profile, Perplexity has forced the industry to imagine what a post-Google Chrome might look like, and to consider how that could reshape competition, innovation, and user choice across the digital economy.