Perplexity wants to buy Google Chrome for $34.5 billion
The three-year-old company, led by CEO Aravind Srinivas, said multiple funds have offered to fully finance the deal, though it did not name them, according to a report by Reuters on the matter, which added that Perplexity has raised about $1 billion so far from investors including Nvidia and SoftBank.
AI search startup Perplexity has made an unexpected $34.5 billion all-cash bid to buy Google's Chrome browser - a price much higher than its own estimated valuation of $18 billion.
The three-year-old company, led by CEO Aravind Srinivas, said multiple funds have offered to fully finance the deal, though it did not name them, according to a report by Reuters on the matter, which added that Perplexity has raised about $1 billion so far from investors including Nvidia and SoftBank.
Google has not indicated any plans to sell Chrome and did not comment on the offer. The browser, with over three billion users, is central to Google's search dominance and AI ambitions. As per Reuters, US regulators have suggested a Chrome divestiture as a possible remedy in an ongoing antitrust case, but analysts believe Google would fight such a move in court.
Perplexity, which already operates an AI browser called Comet, said it would keep Chrome's open-source code, invest $3 billion over two years, and retain Google as the default search engine, adds the report. The startup claims the purchase would preserve user choice and boost competition in the AI search market.
Other potential buyers reportedly include OpenAI, Yahoo, and private equity firm Apollo Global Management, while DuckDuckGo's CEO has suggested Chrome could be worth at least $50 billion if Google were forced to sell.