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2w ago

Perplexity Offers $34.5 Billion to Buy Google’s Chrome Browser

A judge is set to deliver a ruling on antitrust remedies that may force Chrome’s sale, prompting Google to mount an appeal.

Aravind Srinivas, chief executive officer of Perplexity AI Inc., during the Bloomberg Tech conference in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, June 5, 2025.
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Top Justice Department antitrust officials have decided to ask a judge to force Alphabet Inc.’ s Google to sell off its Chrome browser.
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Overview

  • Perplexity AI submitted an unsolicited all-cash bid of $34.5 billion to Alphabet for its Chrome browser.
  • The startup says multiple large investment funds have agreed to finance the transaction in full despite its roughly $18 billion valuation.
  • Terms include preserving the open-source Chromium code, keeping Google as the default search engine with easy opt-out, investing $3 billion over two years and extending offers to Chrome engineers.
  • The offer coincides with the DOJ’s push for Chrome divestiture as an antitrust remedy following a 2024 ruling that found Google operated an illegal search monopoly.
  • Other potential buyers, including OpenAI, Yahoo and Apollo Global Management, have also expressed interest in acquiring a browser that commands about two-thirds of the global market.