Perplexity AI makes $34.5 billion play for Google’s Chrome

Indian-origin Aravind Srinivas-founded Perplexity AI has made a formal $34.5 billion all-cash bid for Google’s Chrome browser, positioning itself as a ready buyer should US regulators force a divestiture of one of the most widely used pieces of consumer software in the world.

The unsolicited proposal was delivered to Alphabet’s Google unit on Tuesday, a Perplexity spokesperson said, and comes as the search giant awaits a federal court ruling that could compel it to spin off Chrome and license search data to rivals.

US District Judge Amit Mehta, who last year found Google had an illegal monopoly in internet search, is expected to announce remedies in the coming days.

San Francisco-based Perplexity, a three-year-old AI search startup backed by investors including SoftBank, Nvidia and Jeff Bezos, was valued at $18 billion after a $100 million fundraising earlier this year.

The scale of the offer, nearly double its own valuation, has raised questions about financing.

Perplexity chief business officer Dmitry Shevelenko said “multiple large investment funds” have agreed to cover the purchase in full, with no equity component from Perplexity to avoid antitrust complications.

The company pledged to keep Chrome’s underlying Chromium code open source, make no “stealth modifications” to the browser, and invest $3 billion over the next two years to upgrade performance and infrastructure.

It said it would extend offers to a substantial portion of Chrome’s current staff and maintain the browser’s default search settings in the near term, a gesture aimed at reassuring both regulators and Google’s advertising partners.

Perplexity has been trying to lure users away from Google with AI-driven search results and plans to launch its own Chromium-based browser, Comet, embedded with an AI agent capable of performing tasks like shopping or research on behalf of users.

Acquiring Chrome would give the startup an unparalleled distribution platform and cement its presence in the daily habits of billions of internet users.

This is not Perplexity’s first attempt to pre-empt a forced sale.

Earlier this year it submitted a proposal to ByteDance to merge with TikTok’s US operations, as the video app faced the prospect of a US ban without a deal.

In both cases, the company has tried to frame itself as a trusted steward of high-profile consumer platforms at regulatory crossroads.

Google has not publicly commented on the approach, but people familiar with the matter told multiple outlets that Alphabet does not currently view the offer as actionable absent a court-ordered breakup.

Regulators have never required the separation of a browser from a search business at this scale, and industry analysts say the technical and commercial complexities, from search default agreements to security governance, would be immense.

The bid underscores intensifying competition in the browser space, where AI companies are reimagining the software as a front-end for autonomous agents.

It also raises the stakes for Judge Mehta’s ruling, which could reshape not only Google’s dominance in search but also control over the world’s primary gateway to the internet.