Why Perplexity Has Offered to Buy Google Chrome for $34.5bn

Google insists Chrome is not for sale, but Perplexity has offered US$34.5bn for it anyway.

The three-year-old AI startup’s bid to acquire the most popular web browser worldwide comes as Google faces mounting pressure from US antitrust regulators. With Judge Amit Mehta ruling in April 2025 that Google illegally maintains a search monopoly, Perplexity could be positioning itself for a sale that Google may not be able to refuse.

In its letter to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Perplexity said its offer was designed to serve “the highest public interest” by placing Chrome in “capable, independent” hands.

The move has raised eyebrows. Perplexity’s bid exceeds its own US$18bn valuation by nearly double. The three-year-old startup has raised approximately US$1.5bn to date but claims several large VC funds have agreed to back the full transactionwith Perplexity Chief Business Officer Dmitry Shevelenko confirming to Bloomberg that “multiple large investment funds have agreed to finance the transaction in full.” 

Chrome’s value, meanwhile, remains disputed. DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg testified in court that Chrome could be worth upwards of US$50 billion, whilst some estimates reach as high as US$100bn. 

Why does Perplexity want to acquire Google Chrome?

With an estimated 3.5 billion users, Chrome serves as the primary gateway to the internet for most of the world’s population. Beyond browser functionality, Chrome collects behavioural data that feeds Google’s US$2tn advertising business, and determines which search engine millions encounter first thing each morning.

For Perplexity, ownership of Chrome would provide immediate access to a user base more than 100 times larger than its current 30 million monthly users. The startup generates roughly US$150m in annual revenue but acquiring Chrome would transform its scale and reach.

The acquisition plans follow Perplexity’s July launch of Comet, an AI-powered browser that allows users to issue natural language commands for complex tasks like booking meetings or making purchases. CEO Aravind Srinivas has described Comet as a “cognitive operating system” that transforms how users interact with the web.

The CEO has been critical of Google’s advertising-driven search model, arguing that when “the ordering of the links was manipulated with ads” it frustrates users. Perplexity says its approach separates advertising from core search results, positioning itself as more user-focused than Google’s model.

Why Google will not let go of Chrome without a fight

As Google CEO Sundar Pichai commented in his court testimony earlier this year, the company views Chrome as essential to its competitive strategy. He characterised the Justice Department’s proposed remedies – including the potential divestiture of Chrome – as “extraordinary” and warned the suggestions would make it “unviable” for Google to continue investing in search.

Forcing Google to share search data would allow competitors to “reverse-engineer every aspect of our technology,” he also claimed, warning that Chrome divestiture would create “many unintended consequences,” including cybersecurity risks.

Google contributes over 90% of code commits to Chromium, the open-source project underlying Chrome and other browsers. “I haven’t seen, since we built Chrome, any other company make the kind of investments” Google has made, he said.

The Justice Department’s antitrust case represents the most significant challenge to big tech dominance since Microsoft’s 2001 settlement, which opened browser competition and ultimately enabled Chrome’s rise.

The DOJ has proposed forcing Google to divest Chrome to “permanently stop Google's control of this critical search access point.” Judge Mehta found that Google violated antitrust law through exclusive default-placement deals worth billions annually.

Perplexity has structured its bid with commitments designed to address regulatory concerns. The company promises to invest US$3bn over two years in Chrome's Chromium technology whilst maintaining its open-source status. The company has also committed to keeping Google as Chrome’s default search engine rather than immediately substituting its own AI-powered alternative.

Perplexity’s position in the broader AI race

Perplexity faces competition from other AI companies seeking browser control. OpenAI has also expressed interest in acquiring Chrome and has hired former Google Chrome developers, whilst Apple has reportedly held internal discussions about acquiring Perplexity itself.

Judge Mehta is expected to announce his final decision on Google's antitrust remedies later this summer, though appeals will likely extend the process for years. Regardless of the outcome, Perplexity’s bid has firmly positioned the company in discussions about the future of internet access.

As Aravind puts it: “There’s no end to knowledge. You can only expand and grow. I see this as sort of a discovery process.”