Particle.news
Download on the App Store
32 ARTICLES
·
last mo.

Perplexity Proposes $34.5 Billion Purchase of Google’s Chrome Browser

The bid arrives as the Justice Department nears a ruling on remedies to break up Google’s search monopoly by potentially forcing a Chrome sale.

Aravind Srinivas, chief executive officer of Perplexity AI Inc., during the Bloomberg Tech conference in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, June 5, 2025.
Image
Meta AI, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Perplexity, DeepSeek, Copilot and Character.AI. Assorted AI app icons
Image

Overview

  • Perplexity’s offer exceeds its roughly $18 billion valuation and the company says it has lined up multiple investment funds to cover the full transaction price.
  • Its term sheet pledges to invest $3 billion in Chrome and the Chromium open-source project over two years and to maintain Google as the browser’s default search engine.
  • Google has not signaled willingness to sell Chrome, declined to comment on the bid and is widely expected to appeal any court order mandating divestiture.
  • The unsolicited proposal coincides with a forthcoming decision by Judge Amit Mehta on DOJ-recommended antitrust remedies following a 2024 ruling that Google illegally monopolized search.
  • Other potential buyers including OpenAI, Yahoo and Apollo Global Management have expressed interest, but experts say legal challenges and valuation gaps could delay or derail any sale.