Overview

• Perplexity’s all-cash bid includes commitments to maintain Chromium as open source, keep Google as the default search engine, invest $3 billion in development and offer retention packages to Chrome staff, with financing claims backed by unnamed funds.
• Google has opposed forcing a Chrome divestiture, plans to appeal the antitrust ruling and warns that a sale would undermine innovation, privacy and security across its services.
• Industry analysts and former regulators largely regard Perplexity’s public offer as a strategic signal to the court and rivals rather than a transaction likely to close.
• Chrome’s global reach—over 60 percent market share and roughly 3.5 billion users—makes it central to Google’s advertising ecosystem and a focal point of the DOJ’s proposed antitrust remedies.
• The next steps hinge on Judge Amit Mehta’s forthcoming decision on remedies and the prospect of a multi-year appeals process that could delay any divestiture.