August 12, 2025 • News
AI startup Perplexity recently made headlines with a dramatic unsolicited bid to buy Google’s Chrome browser for $34.5 billion. This is the second major takeover offer the company has made in 2025 – in January it also proposed buying TikTok’s U.S. operations – underlining Perplexity’s ambitious strategy. This move is aimed at leveraging Chrome’s enormous user base to boost Perplexity’s position in the AI-driven search market. Perplexity’s bid comes with specific conditions: the company has pledged to keep Chrome’s underlying Chromium code open-source and to invest $3 billion into its development. It also promises not to change Chrome’s default search engine, meaning Google would remain the primary search provider. The offer arrives amid growing regulatory pressure on Google. Earlier in 2025, a U.S. judge found Google’s search practices unlawful, and the Justice Department has proposed forcing Google to spin off Chrome as a remedy. Perplexity is still a relatively young startup – it has raised roughly $1 billion in funding and was last valued around $14 billion (some reports put its value closer to $18 billion) – so this bid far exceeds its own valuation by a wide margin. The startup has backing from investors including SoftBank and Nvidia, and it did not disclose a funding plan for the offer; however, several investment funds have reportedly said they are willing to finance the deal in full. Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the offer.
Perplexity’s bid must be viewed in the context of ongoing regulatory action and intense industry competition. In March 2025, a U.S. court ruled that Google illegally maintained a monopoly in search, and the Department of Justice proposed remedies that could include forcing Google to divest the Chrome browser. When regulators first floated this possibility, even OpenAI signaled interest in acquiring Chrome. The Chrome browser is enormously valuable: it holds roughly 68% of the global browser market, making it a prize asset. Given that dominance, analysts say Google would be extremely reluctant to sell and would likely fight any breakup through lengthy appeals. This all unfolds as major tech companies race to integrate AI into search and browsing. Google itself is rolling out generative AI features for Search and Chrome to maintain its lead. Perplexity’s offer shows that even smaller AI companies are eyeing big tech platforms to gain an edge.
Perplexity’s audacious move highlights how competition in the AI era is increasingly about access to users and data. As one analysis notes, as a new generation of users turns to chatbots such as ChatGPT and Perplexity for answers, web browsers are regaining prominence as vital gateways to search traffic and prized user data. By acquiring Chrome, Perplexity would gain immediate access to more than three billion users worldwide, potentially giving it the scale to compete with much larger companies. In fact, Perplexity even launched its own AI-powered browser called Comet in mid-2025 to bring users into its ecosystem. Buying Chrome would instantly scale that effort. Industry insiders also note that if Perplexity’s offer succeeded, it could reshape the competitive landscape: DuckDuckGo’s CEO recently testified that Chrome could be worth over $50 billion if sold, suggesting Perplexity’s bid might be on the low side. Regardless of the outcome, the bid underscores that AI companies are thinking creatively about how to secure distribution channels and data access. For now, Perplexity’s offer stands as a high-profile example of bold strategy in the AI race.
With Perplexity’s proposal now public, the question is how Google and regulators will respond. A key upcoming milestone is the expected ruling on Google’s search antitrust case, due in late August 2025. If the court orders a divestiture of Chrome, any bids (including Perplexity’s) would become part of the remedy process. Google has already indicated it will fight any forced sale of Chrome, and legal analysts predict that the issue could be tied up in appeals for years. For now, Perplexity appears to be banking on a scenario where regulators will require new ownership of Chrome as part of the antitrust remedy. Even if that outcome does not occur, the bid has served as a wake-up call: it demonstrates how AI startups are willing to think beyond traditional products and target user platforms to gain an edge. Tech observers will be watching closely to see if this unexpected proposal changes the rules of the AI competition.
Perplexity also emphasizes that its bid is structured as an all-cash transaction with no equity component, which it says would "preserve user choice" and ease competition concerns. Under its proposal, Google would essentially remain a separate company, with the Chrome browser transferred to Perplexity along with regulatory approval. This detail is meant to reassure regulators that the deal would not entangle Google’s other businesses.
Perplexity had already surprised observers earlier in 2025 by making a similar bold offer for another major tech property: it proposed buying TikTok’s U.S. operations after U.S. regulators demanded a sale of the social media app. These high-profile bids remain hypothetical: as of publication, neither deal has been approved. Both Google and Perplexity have so far declined to comment on this latest proposal. Nevertheless, the move has captured wide attention. Even if it does not succeed, many see the offer as a signal that tech startups are willing to make audacious plays for assets once considered untouchable. This episode underscores how dramatically the AI revolution is reshaping strategic priorities in the tech industry.
Only time will tell how this unprecedented offer plays out in the evolving AI tech landscape. It clearly shows how high the stakes have become in the AI search arms race.