San Francisco, August 13, 2025 — In a move that has stunned the tech industry, artificial intelligence startup Perplexity has made an unsolicited $34.5 billion all-cash offer to acquire Google’s Chrome browser. The bid comes amid mounting regulatory pressure on Google, with the U.S. Department of Justice pushing for Chrome’s divestiture following a court ruling that found the tech giant guilty of unlawfully monopolizing online search.
Perplexity, founded just three years ago and currently valued at $18 billion, has raised around $1 billion from investors including Nvidia and SoftBank. Despite its modest valuation, the company claims that multiple large investment funds have agreed to fully finance the acquisition.
The startup’s proposal includes several commitments aimed at easing regulatory concerns:
- Chrome’s underlying codebase, Chromium, would remain open source
- A $3 billion investment over two years to enhance Chrome’s infrastructure
- No changes to Chrome’s default search engine settings
- Offers to retain a substantial portion of Chrome’s existing engineering talent
Perplexity’s CEO Aravind Srinivas stated that acquiring Chrome’s user base—over three billion globally—would give the company a strategic edge in the AI-powered search race. The firm already operates its own AI browser, Comet, and sees Chrome as a gateway to scale its reach and compete with rivals like OpenAI, which is also developing an AI browser and reportedly interested in Chrome.
Google has not responded publicly to the offer and is expected to resist any forced sale. Analysts estimate Chrome’s market value to be at least $50 billion, making Perplexity’s bid relatively low but symbolically aggressive.
A federal judge is expected to rule soon on remedies in the antitrust case, which could determine whether Google will be compelled to divest Chrome. If approved, the sale could mark one of the most significant corporate breakups in tech history.
