AI startup Perplexity AI made a sensational offer to Google to buy the Chrome browser for $34.5 billion in cash. According to The Wall Street Journal, this amount is double the valuation of Perplexity itself ($18 billion). The company, which is developing an AI-based search engine, plans to fund the deal with the support of major venture capital funds, although their names are not disclosed. The terms include maintaining the open-source Chromium code, investing $3 billion in the development of the browser over two years, and keeping Google as the default search engine.
The offer came amid an antitrust investigation in the U.S., where the court recognized Google as a monopoly in the search sector. The U.S. Department of Justice is demanding the sale of Chrome, which could force Alphabet (Google's parent company) to consider such offers. Previously, interest in Chrome was shown by OpenAI and Yahoo. However, analysts doubt the success of the deal, valuing Chrome at $50–100 billion. Google plans to appeal the court's decision, which could prolong the process.
Perplexity, known for its Comet browser with AI features, aims to compete with giants by attracting billions of Chrome users.
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