Perplexity AI Offers $34.5 Billion for Chrome

Perplexity AI has made an unsolicited offer to purchase Chrome from Alphabet for $34.5 billion in cash. The AI search engine company has committed to maintaining Chrome's underlying engine, Chromium, as open source and plans to invest $3 billion into the project.

Perplexity has assured that it will not alter the default settings for Chrome users, including keeping Google as the default search engine. This offer comes amid regulatory pressures on Google, with the Department of Justice proposing that Google divest Chrome following a court ruling that found the company maintained an illegal monopoly in online search.

The bid by Perplexity is significantly higher than its own valuation, which was recently estimated at $18 billion. Despite this, the company has not disclosed how it plans to finance the acquisition. The offer is part of Perplexity's strategy to expand its presence in the AI search market, leveraging Chrome's extensive user base.