Perplexity, a 3 year old AI startup, has allegedly made an unsolicited offer to buy Google’s Chrome browser for $34.5 billion in cash. That’s a big number when you consider Perplexity’s own valuation is $18 billion, half of what they are proposing.
To put that in perspective, Chrome is the world’s most popular browser with 68% market share and 3 billion users. Perplexity is like a scrappy new boxer challenging a heavyweight champion to a title fight and they’re betting big they can win. The company has secured commitments from multiple large venture capital funds to fully finance the deal, but the exact players are not named.
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Why Chrome? For Perplexity it’s all about positioning in the rapidly evolving AI search race. Perplexity was founded in 2022 and has made waves with its AI powered search engine that summarizes web content and provides sourced answers competing directly with Google’s search dominance. Controlling Chrome would give Perplexity a massive platform to integrate its AI tools and tap into billions of users and their data.
Perplexity already launched its own browser, Comet, in July 2025 designed to weave AI into the browsing experience by syncing with users’ calendars, tabs and social channels. Buying Chrome would supercharge this vision and give Perplexity a huge advantage over rivals like OpenAI which is reportedly developing its own browser.
Google is currently in a legal battle after a 2024 court ruling found it illegally monopolized online search. The US Department of Justice has proposed forcing Google to sell Chrome as a remedy to level the playing field for competitors. A federal judge is expected to rule on these remedies soon, possibly within weeks. Perplexity’s offer seems to be timed to take advantage of this uncertainty and present itself as a ready buyer if the court orders a sale. In a letter to Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai, Perplexity framed its offer as a public interest move, saying it could operate Chrome independently and fairly. But Google has shown no interest in selling, calling the idea of divesting Chrome an “unprecedented proposal” that would harm users and security. Google is appealing the antitrust ruling and seems ready for a long fight.
Perplexity’s proposal comes with sweeteners, such as a promise to keep Chromium, the open-source foundation of Chrome used by browsers like Microsoft Edge, free. It will invest $3 billion over two years in Chrome and Chromium to keep development going. And it won’t change Chrome’s default search engine, so Google Search will remain the default unless you choose otherwise.
What does this mean for you? If Perplexity pulls this off, Chrome will become a testing ground for AI features like smarter search integration and personalized browsing tools. Comet’s early features like task automation give you a taste of what Perplexity might bring to Chrome’s 2 billion users. Even if the court forces a sale, other players like OpenAI, Yahoo and Apollo Global Management have expressed interest which could drive up the price or complicate the negotiations.
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