Google Chrome For Sale: Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity has made a bold offer to acquire Google’s Chrome browser for $34.5 billion, which the tech giant could be compelled to sell amid antitrust proceedings. The proposed amount, outlined in a letter of intent, is nearly double Perplexity’s reported $18 billion valuation from a recent funding round.
The three-year-old company has reportedly raised about $1 billion from investors like Nvidia and Japan’s SoftBank. Google has shown no interest in selling Chrome, and no court has ordered it to do so.
Perplexity’s move is similar to its earlier bid this year to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations, which also faced regulatory hurdles. Meanwhile, Google is waiting for US District Court Judge Amit Mehta to decide what actions to take after last year’s ruling that found the company held an illegal monopoly in online search.
