Key Highlights
- Perplexity AI makes a staggering $34.5 billion all-cash deal for Google’s Chrome browser
- Google is expected to deny the unsolicited offer amid antitrust battles
- Perplexity wants to dominate the AI sector with this deal
In the latest news that shocked Silicon Valley, the leading AI startup Perplexity has thrown down a $34.5 billion all-cash deal to buy Google’s Chrome browser.
The “unsolicited bid” comes while the three-year-old company is valued at just $14 billion. This deal looks to grab a piece of the browser’s massive user base, which is over three billion people.
AI startup Perplexity has made a $34.5 billion offer to buy Google Chrome pic.twitter.com/zBGi2O4YJu
— Pubity (@pubity) August 12, 2025
Perplexity’s CEO, Aravind Srinivas, isn’t new to bold plays. Earlier this year, the startup tried to merge with TikTok’s U.S. operations to ease concerns over the app’s Chinese ownership. Now, it is setting its sights on Chrome, which is a crown jewel in Google’s empire.
Why Perplexity Wants to Buy Chrome
Browsers are back in the spotlight as AI tools are now changing the way people search the web. With chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity’s own AI assistant gaining traction, controlling a browser means controlling how users access information and the valuable data that comes with it.
Perplexity already has an AI-powered browser, Comet, but buying Chrome would instantly make it a major player in the AI race.
The offer includes promises to keep Chrome’s core technology open-source, invest $3 billion in upgrades, and leave its default search engine unchanged—likely to avoid antitrust red flags. But experts say Google will not let Chrome go without a fight.
Google’s Legal Battle and the Antitrust Shadow
The bid lands as Google faces mounting legal pressure. Last year, a U.S. court ruled the tech giant illegally monopolized online search, and the Justice Department has pushed for Chrome to be spun off. Google plans to appeal, and legal experts predict a years-long battle.
“If the court orders a sale, Google will drag this out through appeals,” says Herbert Hovenkamp, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “This could take years, and there’s no guarantee a forced sale even happens.”
Meanwhile, Perplexity has not explained how it’ll fund the massive deal. The startup claims unnamed investors are ready to bankroll it, but skeptics question whether a $14 billion company can realistically pull this off.
Even if Google were forced to sell, analysts say Chrome could fetch far more than $34.5 billion.
DuckDuckGo’s CEO estimates its value at over $50 billion. For now, Perplexity’s offer is a daring power play, one that shows just how much AI is shaking up Big Tech’s old guard.
The ball is in Google’s court. But with regulators circling and AI rivals closing in, the future of Chrome is anything but certain.
Perplexity Wants to Dominate the AI Sector
The startup, valued at just $14 billion, sees Chrome’s three billion users as key to competing with giants like OpenAI.
The deal shows how browsers have become AI battlegrounds. With chatbots reshaping search, owning Chrome would give Perplexity instant scale.
As chatbots replace traditional search, controlling the gateway to the internet gives companies direct access to user behavior and preferences, the lifeblood of AI development.
This move could trigger a new wave of consolidation in the tech industry as AI firms scramble to acquire distribution channels.
Microsoft, Apple, and other giants will likely be watching closely, might be prompting countermoves in what’s becoming an all-out war for AI supremacy.
Perplexity AI is expanding its reach by partnering with major telecommunications providers like Bharti Airtel in India and Bell in Canada to offer free 12-month subscriptions to its premium Perplexity Pro service. Through Airtel’s network of over 390 million users, Perplexity provides access to advanced AI features like real-time search, GPT-4.1, Claude, image generation, and deep research tools via the Airtel Thanks app, marking its first collaboration with an Indian telecom operator.
Similarly, Bell’s partnership, announced on August 11, extends free Perplexity Pro access to its customers, leveraging Bell’s extensive network to enhance AI adoption in Canada.
