Perplexity Offers To Buy Chrome For Billions More Than It’s Raised

In a moonshot move, AI hunt motor Perplexity has offered to bargain Chrome from Google for $34.5 cardinal rate successful an unsolicited offer, Reuters reported and Perplexity has confirmed to TechCrunch.

Perplexity tells TC nan position of nan connection see a committedness to support Chrome’s underlying engine, Chromium, unfastened root and proceed to put successful it. Perplexity’s connection includes a committedness to put $3 cardinal into nan unfastened root project.

Perplexity is besides promising not to alteration nan personification defaults of Chrome users, including nan default hunt engine. That is, Perplexity is promising to time off Google arsenic nan hunt motor alternatively than making its ain AI-powered action nan default. 

Google could not beryllium reached for comment. TechCrunch will update nan article if nan institution responds.

This bid comes aft nan Department of Justice projected successful March that Google beryllium forced to waste Chrome aft a judge ruled nan tech elephantine acted illegally to support a monopoly successful online search. Google has not agreed to waste Chrome and has vowed to conflict nan ruling. 

The Perplexity spokesperson believes nan tribunal will soon group position for remedies, possibly later this month. (Google is besides fighting another national lawsuit wherever nan judge ruled it illegally monopolized adtech, and nan DOJ is proposing Google beryllium forced to divest 2 of its adtech products aliases different break up its advertisement business.)

When nan DOJ first projected that Google divest Chrome, both OpenAI and Perplexity expressed liking successful buying it. Given that Chrome is nan ascendant browser, pinch 68% marketshare according to Statcounter, if nan tribunal rules Chrome must beryllium sold, nary uncertainty others worldwide would want to bid arsenic well.

Interestingly, nan CEO of rival hunt motor Duck Duck Go testified successful April that Chrome could beryllium worthy “upwards of $50 billion,” Bloomberg reported astatine nan time. Should Perplexity’s connection succeed, it could beryllium considered a bargain. 

Still, this connection for Chrome is acold much than Perplexity has raised from investors and much than nan startup’s existent valuation. Perplexity has raised astir $1.5 cardinal to date, Pitchbook estimates, including an hold information of $100 cardinal raised past period that weighted it astatine $18 billion, Bloomberg reported.

In nan meantime, Perplexity past period launched its ain browser, called Comet, successful its bid to turn its AI hunt business without having to service its customers done a browser, peculiarly 1 owned by its main rival Google.

And, by nan way, past month, Perplexity besides reportedly submitted a bid to merge pinch TikTok.