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Perplexity’s $34.5 Billion Chrome Bid Is Either Brilliant Antitrust Judo—or a PR Stunt
When an $18 billion AI startup tries to buy the world’s most popular browser from Google for nearly double its own valuation, you have two options: laugh—or pay very close attention.
On Tuesday, Perplexity made an unsolicited $34.5 billion offer to acquire Chrome, the Google browser with roughly 3.5 billion users and over 60% global market share. The bid drops right in the middle of a pending U.S. antitrust decision that could, in theory, force Google to sell Chrome to weaken its search monopoly.
The Legal Chessboard
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled last year that Google illegally monopolized search. Now, he’s weighing remedies—ranging from forcing a Chrome divestiture to banning Google from paying for default search placement.
Perplexity’s offer is almost certainly aimed at influencing that decision. In its letter to Sundar Pichai, the AI firm said its proposal would “satisfy an antitrust remedy in the highest public interest by placing Chrome with a capable, independent operator.”
Translation: We’re ready to take this off your hands if the court makes you sell.
Why This Is a Big Deal
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Chrome’s Estimated Value: $20B–$50B (depending on who you ask)
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Perplexity’s Offer: $34.5B—above its own $18B valuation, backed by unnamed major VC investors
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Market Impact: Chrome is the gateway to search, and Google still commands ~90% search market share in the U.S.
If Chrome left Google’s control, even with Google Search still set as the default, the competitive dynamics of the web could shift overnight.
Google’s Position
Google has zero interest in selling. Pichai testified earlier this year that such a move would hurt innovation, threaten security, and damage its business model. Chrome is not just a browser—it’s a data and user access pipeline.
Instead, Google has offered to tweak its exclusivity deals with Apple, Mozilla, and Android OEMs, allowing more search competition without losing Chrome.
Why Perplexity Wants Chrome
Perplexity just launched its own browser, Comet, and has been positioning itself as an AI-first alternative to traditional search. Owning Chrome would give it a ready-made, multi-billion-user distribution channel for its AI-powered query engine—basically the kind of market entry every tech founder dreams about.
The company has also promised to keep Chromium, the open-source base for Chrome, alive and to maintain Google as the default search engine (at least initially).
The Odds
Most analysts say Mehta is unlikely to order a Chrome sale. But his public musings about whether a divestiture might be “cleaner and more elegant” than other remedies suggest it’s not impossible.
If nothing else, Perplexity’s bid is a signal to regulators: there’s an interested buyer with funding in place. And that signal could factor into Mehta’s ruling—whether or not Perplexity actually ends up owning Chrome.
Bottom Line for Investors:
This is either a savvy bit of antitrust theater designed to get Perplexity’s name in every headline—or the opening move in one of the boldest tech acquisitions of the decade. Either way, it forces regulators and markets to imagine a world where Chrome is not in Google’s hands… and where AI firms can play offense in Big Tech’s most entrenched turf.
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