Chrome Takeover: How Perplexity’s $34.5B Bid Could Dethrone Google’s AI Empire

Perplexity just lobbed a $34.5 billion grenade at Google‘s feet. The AI startup, fresh off raising cash at an $18 billion valuation, wants to buy Chrome. Yes, that Chrome—the browser controlling 67% of how humans access the internet. The unsolicited offer landed while Google’s still reeling from Judge Amit Mehta’s monopoly ruling, which could force them to divest their browser baby anyway.

AI startup worth $18 billion makes unsolicited $34.5 billion bid for Chrome while Google faces forced divestiture

The timing isn’t coincidental. The Justice Department’s been circling since 2020, hammering Google about those cozy default search deals that lock down distribution. Now Perplexity‘s swooping in with Project Solomon, their cutely-named term sheet promising to be the independent operator antitrust regulators supposedly want. They’re pledging $3 billion over two years to keep Chrome humming, plus a pinky promise to maintain user choice for 100 months. How generous.

Here’s where it gets spicy. Perplexity told the Wall Street Journal they’ve got the financing lined up, with big VC funds ready to back the whole thing. Funny thing though—some of their existing investors say nobody’s talked to them about it. Math gets weird too when you’re bidding nearly double your own valuation. But hey, Chrome’s worth somewhere between $20 billion and $50 billion depending on who’s counting, so maybe they’re getting a deal.

The proposal reads like a regulatory love letter. Keep Chromium open-source? Check. Let users pick their default search? Sure thing. Even keep Google as the default option? Why not. They’re basically promising to be better stewards of Google’s own creation while Google argues that forcing a sale would somehow destroy innovation and create security nightmares. The offer’s structured as a non-binding asset sale specifically tied to antitrust remedies—a clever framing that screams “we’re the solution to your regulatory headache.”

Meanwhile, OpenAI‘s lurking in the shadows, also interested if Chrome hits the auction block. Competition’s heating up, which makes Perplexity’s move either brilliantly strategic or desperately attention-seeking. They just launched Comet, their own AI browser gunning for Chrome’s throne. Comet touts itself as a cognitive operating system, automating everything from calendar scheduling to online shopping with hybrid AI processing split between your device and the cloud. With AI systems increasingly used for workplace monitoring, Perplexity’s potential control of Chrome raises further questions about data collection and user privacy.

Even if this bid goes nowhere, they’ve managed to insert themselves into every tech headline alongside Google’s existential crisis. Four billion Chrome users watch this drama unfold, probably through Chrome itself. The irony isn’t lost on anyone.