AI Company Perplexity Offers Bid of $34.5 Billion to Gain Ownership of Google Chrome
Perplexity, an AI-powered search startup, has made an unsolicited offer to acquire Google's Chrome browser, valued at approximately $34.5 billion. This move comes amidst mounting legal challenges for Google and ongoing antitrust scrutiny.
The offer, code-named Project Solomon, is positioned as a strategic leap in the race for AI-driven search dominance. Perplexity, which has raised approximately $1.5 billion to date with a valuation of $18 billion as of last month, aims to directly compete with larger AI rivals like OpenAI if it acquires Chrome.
However, Google has not publicly responded in detail to Perplexity's offer. The tech giant may eventually be forced to divest Chrome as part of a legal remedy, but for now, Chrome is not officially for sale. Google has many options, including competing bidders with deeper pockets than Perplexity.
Regulators are pursuing separate antitrust action targeting Google's advertising technology business, and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed that Google be required to divest Chrome after a court found it had illegally maintained a monopoly in online search. A ruling on potential remedies in the search monopoly case is expected later this month from Judge Amit Mehta.
If the deal were to go through, Perplexity has pledged to maintain Chrome's core codebase, Chromium, open source and invest $3 billion into the project over the next two years. Perplexity has also committed to not alter Chrome's default user settings, meaning Google Search would remain the default search engine.
Some Perplexity investors reportedly have not been informed about the deal, signaling possible internal ambiguities. The names of the investment funds offering to fully finance the deal for Google's Chrome browser have not been disclosed.
Google is currently integrating AI-generated search summaries to protect its market share. Browsers have re-emerged as critical gateways to search traffic and the AI tools shaping the next era of the internet. Legal experts caution that any forced sale could face years of appeals, potentially reaching the Supreme Court.
Industry analysts view Perplexity's bid for Chrome with skepticism due to Chrome's integration with Google's services. DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg estimated earlier this year that Chrome's valuation is $50 billion-plus.
In summary, Google's current stance appears to be withholding any formal acceptance or negotiation, treating the bid as a high-profile marketing and positioning maneuver by Perplexity rather than a serious transaction in progress. Whether this offer will lead to a change in Google's browser landscape remains to be seen.
[1] Source: TechCrunch [2] Source: The Wall Street Journal
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