AI star company Perplexity proposed to acquire Google's Chrome for $34.5 billion

On Tuesday, according to media reports, artificial intelligence star startup Perplexity proposed to acquire Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion, challenging Google's dominance in the online search field.

Perplexity's offer is significantly higher than its own valuation of about $18 billion. Several investors, including large venture capital funds, have agreed to fully support the deal.

There is a wide range of market estimates for Chrome's enterprise value, but recent estimates range from $20 billion to $50 billion.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta is considering whether to force Google to sell Chrome to weaken its monopoly in online search. Mehta ruled last year that Google illegally monopolized the search market and is expected to make a ruling this month on how to restore competition.

Perplexity's acquisition proposal may be an indication to the judge that there are potential buyers in the market once he orders a sale. In a letter to Google's parent company Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Perplexity stated that its proposal to acquire Chrome aims to serve the highest public interest in antitrust measures by handing Chrome over to a capable independent operator.

Google has not shown any willingness to sell Chrome. Pichai told the judge during testimony this year that forcing the company to sell or share data with competitors would harm Google's business, undermine its willingness to invest in new technologies, and potentially pose security risks. Chrome has approximately 3.5 billion global users, accounting for over 60% of the global browser market share.

Founded in 2022 and headquartered in San Francisco, Perplexity recently launched its self-developed web browser Comet to select users.

In its letter to Pichai, Perplexity stated that as part of the proposed acquisition, the company would continue to maintain and support the open-source project Chromium that underpins Chrome and other browsers. Meanwhile, Google Search will continue to be the default search engine in Chrome, but users can change the settings themselves.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in 2020. In addition to potentially forcing the sale of Chrome, the judge is also considering measures to limit the fees Google pays to be the default search engine on devices and browsers, as well as requiring it to share data with competitors. Earlier this year, while weighing possible remedies, Mehta questioned to what extent emerging AI chatbots are undermining traditional search businesses—where Google holds a market share of up to 90%.

Google has proposed a more limited set of remedies, including modifying exclusive agreements with Apple, Mozilla, and Android to allow for more competition. Google also stated that it would appeal the judge's ruling Analysts believe that the judge is unlikely to force Google to sell Chrome, although he did not make a clear statement. In his closing remarks earlier this year, he asked whether doing so would be "more straightforward and elegant" than other remedies aimed at improving search competition.

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