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Perplexity Reportedly Offers to Buy Google Chrome for More Than Its Own Valuation

Perplexity Reportedly Offers to Buy Google Chrome for More Than Its Own Valuation

Google Chrome is the world's most popular open-source web browser.

Written by Shaurya Tomer, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 13 August 2025 09:10 IST

Perplexity Reportedly Offers to Buy Google Chrome for More Than Its Own Valuation

Photo Credit: Pexels/Deepanker Verma

Perplexity has promised to continue to keep Google Chrome open-sourced

Highlights

Multiple investment funds will reportedly finance the transaction
Perplexity promised to invest $3 billion in Google Chrome
The offer is higher than the AI startup’s own valuation of $18 billion

Artificial intelligence (AI) startup Perplexity on Tuesday launched an audacious bid to buy the Google Chrome browser in its entirety, according to a report. The Aravind Srinivas-led company is said to have offered Google $34.5 billion (roughly Rs. 3.02 lakh crore) for the rights to the world's most popular web browser, a sum which is even higher than Perplexity's own valuation. This development comes amidst the ongoing anti-trust case against the Alphabet-owned company which has been accused of benefiting from a search monopoly and the ongoing pressure to sell.

Perplexity's Offer to Buy Google Chrome

According to a Bloomberg report, Perplexity aims to fund the bid with the help of investors from the outside. However, the $34.5 billion (roughly Rs. 3.02 lakh crore) offer is said to be higher than the AI startup's valuation itself. “Multiple large investment funds have agreed to finance the transaction in full”, Dmitry Shevelenko, Chief Business Officer at Perplexity told the publication.

The AI company was last valued at $18 billion (roughly Rs. 1.57 lakh crore), following the recent funding round in July where it raised a fresh capital of $100 million (roughly Rs. 875 crore).

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In a statement given to TechCrunch, the Aravind Srinivas-led company seemingly confirmed the offer. Perplexity reportedly said that its offer includes a commitment to keep Chrome's core engine, which is Chromium, open source and a promise of continued investment of about $3 billion (roughly Rs. 0.26 lakh crore).

Further, the AI startup also promised not to change user defaults even if its bid is successful. As per the report, Google will remain as the default search engine on Chrome instead of making Perplexity's AI-powered search the default option.

It remains to be seen whether Google has plans of selling the web browser. The Alphabet-owned company has recently been under scrutiny, following the ongoing antitrust case in which the US Department of Justice argued that Google had struck anti-competitive deals with companies such as Apple to position its search engine ahead of others. Reports suggest that the tech giant pays Apple upwards of $15 billion (roughly Rs. 1.31 lakh crore) to ensure Google remains the default search engine on Apple devices.

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Following this ruling, the US government reportedly said that it wants Google to sell the Chrome browser, while also licensing search data to competitors and stop payments for exclusive promotions on other services and devices.

Interestingly, Perplexity already has a browser called Comet which supports AI agents that can perform tasks on behalf of the user. The company has made bold claims about it too, such as it could make recruiters go extinct by doing one week's worth of tasks with a single prompt.

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A previous report suggested that the company had plans of reaching "tens to hundreds of millions" users by 2026 with its AI-powered browser. It was said to be in talks with smartphone original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to pre-load the Comet browser on their devices.

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Further reading: Google Chrome, Chrome, Perplexity, Aravind Srinivas, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Perplexity AI

Shaurya Tomer

Email Shaurya Tomer

Shaurya Tomer is a Sub Editor at Gadgets 360 with 2 years of experience across a diverse spectrum of topics. With a particular focus on smartphones, gadgets and the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI), he often likes to explore the industry's intricacies and innovations – whether dissecting the latest smartphone release or exploring the ethical implications of AI advancements. In his free time, he often embarks on impromptu road trips to unwind, recharge, and ...More