AI Start-up Perplexity Makes Surprise Bid for Google Chrome

Tech giants offering lucrative packages to hire talent from their competitors seems to have become a trend nowadays. However, this time, the nature of the deals sounds somewhat different, where AI-startup Perplexity has proposed a $34.5 billion takeover bid to Google for purchasing the Chrome web browser.

Perplexity wrote a letter to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google’s parent firm Alphabet, stating that making Chrome an independent operator that prioritizes user safety will benefit the public. However, a technology industry investor called this offer a “stunt” from Perplexity, as they have proposed a bid that is much lower than the actual valuation of the platform. At the same time, it is not clear even if Google is interested in selling the web browser.

After the BBC contacted Google for any clarification on the letter from Perplexity, it was identified that the company doesn’t have any plans to sell Chrome, a well-known web browser with more than 3 billion active users.

The dominance of Google in the search engine and online advertising market is currently under intense scrutiny as the technology giant is tangled in years of legal complexities of two antitrust cases.

For instance, a US federal judge is expected to issue a ruling to Google this month that would require the firm to break up its search business.

However, the company has made it clear that they would appeal such a rule due to the fact that spinning off Chrome might harm the end users and their security. A spokesperson from Perplexity has stated to the BBC that the recent bid is an important commitment to open web, user choice, and continuity, for everyone who has trusted Chrome.

At the same time, Perplexity also made it clear that if the deal is executed, Google will still function as the default search engine on Chrome as long as the user doesn’t choose to manually change it. Additionally, Perplexity will also handle Chromium support and maintenance, an open-source platform that supports various browsers, including Chrome.

But Perplexity has not revealed the source of funding that would help it to pay for the proposed deal if everything goes well. Perplexity had a valuation of $18 billion last month, which makes it clear that the firm doesn’t have enough funds for the deal at the present moment.

Following the same, Heath Ahrens, a technology investor and startup founder, calls Perplexity’s proposal a “stunt” as they are nowhere near the true value of Chrome with its unmatched reach and data. “The offer isn’t serious, but if someone like Sam Altman or Elon Musk tripled it, they could genuinely secure dominance for their AI,” Heath added.

Tomasz Tunguz from Theory Ventures shared that the decision of Google to sell its web browser is still unclear. However, he also added that the bid proposed by Perplexity is much lower than the actual worth of Chrome due to its intense reach and user base. The actual value might be 10 times or even more than the bid.