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Perplexity Proposes $34.5 Billion All-Cash Offer to Acquire Google Chrome

The unsolicited bid challenges regulators to prove they have serious buyers lined up for Chrome after winning an antitrust ruling.

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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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Downloading Google Chrome in Microsoft Edge

Overview

  • Perplexity AI submitted an unsolicited $34.5 billion all-cash offer to purchase Google’s Chrome browser as part of the ongoing DOJ antitrust remedies process.
  • The startup says multiple large investment funds have agreed to finance the transaction in full despite its own $18 billion valuation.
  • Perplexity pledged to keep Chromium open source, maintain Google Search as the default engine and invest $3 billion in Chrome development.
  • Google has not agreed to sell Chrome and plans to appeal any forced divestiture, arguing a breakup would harm innovation, security and its advertising ecosystem.
  • Analysts view the bid as strategic signaling rather than a straightforward takeover given legal hurdles, technical challenges and questions over financing feasibility.