Perplexity offers to buy Google Chrome for $34.5 billion

Perplexity has just offered to buy Google Chrome for $34.5 billion — a bid that’s far more than the AI search startup itself is valued at, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. The startup sent the unsolicited bid on Tuesday, just months after Perplexity said it would buy Chrome if the government forces Google to sell its browser. The startup also offered to buy TikTok earlier this year. Google hasn’t indicated that it would sell Chrome at any price, and so far, the court hasn’t ordered a sale. Perplexity spokesperson Jesse Dwyer confirmed to The Verge that the WSJ’s reporting is accurate. The startup’s bid for Chrome stands in stark contrast to the startup’s valuation of about $18 billion. Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s chief business officer, told Bloomberg that “multiple large investment funds have agreed to finance the transaction in full.” A spokesperson for the startup also told Bloomberg that Perplexity would invest more than $3 billion in Chrome and Chromium over the next two years if Google accepts the deal.