Perplexity bids $34.5bn for Google Chrome as antitrust decision nears

Artificial intelligence start-up Perplexity has offered $34.5 billion to buy Google’s Chrome browser, positioning itself as a ready buyer should a US court force parent company Alphabet to divest the software that dominates global web traffic.

In a letter to Alphabet’s board, Perplexity co-founder Aravind Srinivas said the cash proposal would “satisfy an antitrust remedy … by placing Chrome with a capable, independent operator”, according to a copy first reported on by The Wall Street Journal. While Alphabet declined to comment, a person briefed on internal discussions told the Financial Times that the group did not view the offer as “serious”.

Perplexity, valued at $18 billion in its last funding round, said unnamed venture funds had agreed to finance the bid in full. Jesse Dwyer, the start-up’s head of communications, insisted the offer was genuine. “This isn’t a joke. We know we would be good stewards of Chrome,” he told the FT.

Chrome, launched in 2008, commands more than 60 per cent of the global browser market and gives Google rich behavioural data that feeds its advertising business. The US Department of Justice argues those data flows help underpin Google’s search monopoly and has urged judge Amit Mehta to consider a forced sale. A remedies ruling is expected this month.

Legal scholars caution that a divestiture could take years. “It’s very possible that he would hold off on requiring a sale until the appeals process is worked out,” Herbert Hovenkamp, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, told Reuters.

Scepticism over the bid’s valuation is widespread. Technology investor Heath Ahrens described the proposal as “a stunt” and “nowhere near Chrome’s true value”, suggesting a price “maybe ten times higher” would be closer to the mark.

Perplexity, which claims 30 million active users of its conversational search tool, launched its own Chromium-based browser, Comet, in July. Buying Chrome would instantly give the three-year-old company access to an installed base exceeding three billion users, leapfrogging larger rivals such as OpenAI and Meta in the race to weave generative AI into everyday browsing.

Even if Google resists a sale, Perplexity’s overture signals to regulators that potential buyers exist—a point the start-up is keen to underline as Washington weighs how far to pry open Google’s search stronghold.

Alphabet has vowed to appeal any order to break up its business, arguing in court filings that a forced sale would undermine security and innovation.