San Francisco-based Perplexity, valued at about $18bn, said large venture capital funds had agreed to fully finance the deal. The offer falls within analysts’ estimates of Chrome’s enterprise value, which range between $20bn and $50bn
Artificial intelligence start-up Perplexity has made an audacious $34.5 billion offer to buy Google’s Chrome browser, positioning itself as a willing acquirer should a US court order its sale to curb Google’s grip on the search market.
The proposal, disclosed to The Wall Street Journal, comes as US District Judge Amit Mehta weighs remedies after ruling last year that Google illegally monopolised search. Mehta is expected to decide this month whether to force structural changes, including the possible divestiture of Chrome, which has 3.5bn users and controls over 60 per cent of the global browser market.
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Offer well above Perplexity’s own valuation
San Francisco-based Perplexity, valued at about $18bn, said large venture capital funds had agreed to fully finance the deal. The offer falls within analysts’ estimates of Chrome’s enterprise value, which range between $20bn and $50bn.
In a letter to Google chief executive Sundar Pichai, Perplexity said the bid was “designed to satisfy an antitrust remedy in highest public interest by placing Chrome with a capable, independent operator.” It added it would continue to maintain Chromium, the open-source platform underpinning Chrome, and keep Google as the default search engine, though users could change settings.
Google resists forced sale
Pichai has argued that selling Chrome or sharing user data would harm Google’s business, undermine investment in new technology and create security risks. During testimony ear