Perplexity offers to buy Chrome for billions more than it’s raised

In a moonshot move, AI search engine Perplexity has offered to buy Chrome from Google for $34.5 billion cash in an unsolicited offer, Reuters reported and Perplexity has confirmed to TechCrunch.

Perplexity tells TC the terms of the offer include a commitment to keep Chrome’s underlying engine, Chromium, open source and continue to invest in it. Perplexity’s offer includes a promise to invest $3 billion into the open source project.

Perplexity is also promising not to change the user defaults of Chrome users, including the default search engine. That is, Perplexity is promising to leave Google as the search engine rather than making its own AI-powered option the default. 

Google could not be reached for comment. TechCrunch will update the article if the company responds.

This bid comes after the Department of Justice proposed in March that Google be forced to sell Chrome after a judge ruled the tech giant acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search. Google has not agreed to sell Chrome and has vowed to fight the ruling. 

The Perplexity spokesperson believes the court will soon set terms for remedies, perhaps later this month. (Google is also fighting another federal case where the judge ruled it illegally monopolized adtech, and the DOJ is proposing Google be forced to divest two of its adtech products or otherwise break up its ad business.)

When the DOJ first proposed that Google divest Chrome, both OpenAI and Perplexity expressed interest in buying it. Given that Chrome is the dominant browser, with 68% marketshare according to Statcounter, if the court rules Chrome must be sold, no doubt others worldwide would want to bid as well.

Interestingly, the CEO of rival search engine Duck Duck Go testified in April that Chrome could be worth “upwards of $50 billion,” Bloomberg reported at the time. Should Perplexity’s offer succeed, it could be considered a bargain. 

Still, this offer for Chrome is far more than Perplexity has raised from investors and more than the startup’s current valuation. Perplexity has raised about $1.5 billion to date, Pitchbook estimates, including an extension round of $100 million raised last month that valued it at $18 billion, Bloomberg reported.

In the meantime, Perplexity last month launched its own browser, called Comet, in its bid to grow its AI search business without having to serve its customers through a browser, particularly one owned by its main rival Google.

And, by the way, last month, Perplexity also reportedly submitted a bid to merge with TikTok.