Aravind Srinivas was a former research intern at Google. Wolf von Dewitz/picture alliance via Getty Images
Perplexity AI, the high-flying A.I. startup founded by former Google intern Aravind Srinivas, has made a bold all-cash offer of $34.5 billion to acquire Google’s Chrome browser, Reuters reported. The bid is nearly twice Perplexity’s own valuation and would require significant external financing. With more than three billion users worldwide, Chrome is one of Google’s most valuable strategic assets, serving as a dominant gateway to search traffic and user data in an A.I.-driven internet era.
The timing of Perplexity’s bid is notable. Google’s parent company Alphabet is already facing intense antitrust scrutiny in the U.S. Last year, a federal court ruled that Alphabet unlawfully monopolized online search. The Department of Justice has suggested that Alphabet be forced to divest Chrome as a potential remedy, with Judge Amit Mehta expected to rule on penalties later this month.
Perplexity’s proposal appears designed to leverage that regulatory pressure. According to multiple reports, the company has promised to keep Google Search as Chrome’s default search engine, maintain the Chromium open-source codebase, and invest $3 billion into browser development over the next two years. It also claims to have commitments from several unnamed investment funds to fully finance the deal if Alphabet agrees. Alphabet, for its part, has given no indication it intends to sell.
“The acquisition attempt is a signal that control over the browser is becoming one of the most valuable frontiers in the A.I. era,” Alon Yamin, co-founder and CEO of Copyleaks, an A.I.-based content verification platform, told Observer. “Whoever owns the gateway to the web holds immense influence over how information is accessed, prioritized and trusted.”
Earlier this year, Perplexity debuted Comet, its own A.I.-powered browser. Combining Comet with Chrome’s global reach could give the company unprecedented influence over how people access and interact with information online.
Perplexity is not the only player eyeing Chrome. Openai, Yahoo, and private-equity giant Apollo Global Management have all reportedly considered bids in recent years.
Founded in 2022 by Srinivas, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho and Andy Konwinski, Perplexity made its name with a conversational search engine that delivers summarized answers instead of links.
