Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI made an unsolicited $34.5 billion offer Tuesday to purchase Google‘s Chrome browser, positioning itself to potentially benefit from federal antitrust action against the tech giant.
The cash bid comes as the US Department of Justice seeks to force Google to divest Chrome following a court ruling that found the company maintained an illegal monopoly in internet search. A federal judge is expected to rule on remedies this month.
Perplexity’s offer significantly exceeds the company’s own $18 billion valuation. The startup said multiple venture capital firms have agreed to finance the transaction, though it did not identify the investors.
“This is designed to satisfy an antitrust remedy in highest public interest by placing Chrome with a capable, independent operator,” Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas wrote in a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, according to reports.
Read: OpenAI Would Consider Chrome Purchase If Google Forced To Sell
The three-year-old company recently launched its own browser called Comet. Chrome commands more than 3 billion users worldwide and serves as a critical data collection point for Google’s advertising business.
Perplexity pledged to maintain Chrome’s open-source Chromium foundation, keep Google as the default search engine, and invest $3 billion in browser development over two years. The company said the arrangement would preserve user choice while addressing competition concerns.
Google declined to comment on the bid. The company has opposed selling Chrome and plans to appeal the antitrust ruling.
Industry analysts valued Chrome at $20 billion to $50 billion.
OpenAI has also previously expressed interest in acquiring Chrome.
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