In a big move, Perplexity AI has made an all cash-offer of $34.5 billion to buy Google’s Chrome browser, reported Reuters on Tuesday. Perplexity AI has made the offer for Alphabet’s Chrome browser, which the report called a low but bold bid that would need financing well above the startup’s own valuation. The artificial intelligence platform is run by Aravind Srinivas, an Indian computer scientist and entrepreneur.
This comes months after the platform made a similar kind of offer to buy TikTok for the US in January. The offer was made after the US raised concerns about the popular Chinese platform and President Donald Trump suggested it could be allowed to run, if it is bought by a US business.
As per a Wall Street Journal report, the offer to purchase Chrome has come at a time when the US regulators are planning to press Google in a landmark anti-trust case to compel it to sell the browser.
Why is Perplexity AI eyeing Chrome?
According to the report, buying Google’s popular Chrome browser would allow the AI startup to increase its reach to the browser’s more than three billion users, as it aims to race ahead in the cut-throat competition of AI research.
Reuters added that the regulatory pressure is already threatening Google’s grip on the industry, and the bid could make Perplexity a big beneficiary, if the deal is settled. Google has not responded to the report yet, Reuters said.
However, it is important to note that Google has not put Chrome on sale and is mulling to appeal a US court order that accused the search giant of unlawful monopoly in online search. The Justice Department has sought a Chrome divestiture as part of the case’s remedies, it added.
How does 3-year-old Perplexity AI plan to fund the offer?
Perplexity AI, which is just three-year-old, has reportedly raised around $1 billion in funding. The amount, the report said, has come from investors including Nvidia and Japan’s SoftBank. It was last valued at $14 billion.
Multiple funds have offered support to finance the full deal, Reuters stated, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Web browsers are the direct gateways to search traffic and data that the AI platforms like Perplexity and ChatGPT require to function prominently.
Perplexity already has an AI browser, Comet, that can perform tasks on a user’s behalf. If it acquires Chrome, it will have a significant edge over arch rivals such as OpenAI.
Apart from OpenAI and Perplexity, Yahoo and private-equity firm Apollo Global Management have also expressed interest in Chrome, the report mentioned.
