AI company Perplexity has made a $34.5 billion offer for Google’s Chrome browser, according to multiple outlets, making the bid as a judge considers forcing Google to spin off Chrome after it was ruled to have held a monopoly over online advertising technology.
The offer was first reported Tuesday morning. (Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Key Takeaways
- The $34.5 billion offer is backed by several unnamed investors “including large venture-capital funds,” according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the bid.
- A U.S. District judge ruled in April Google “willfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts” to maintain a search market monopoly, backing up an earlier ruling last year, which said Google used exclusive distribution agreements and “supracompetitive prices” that led to “anticompetitive behavior.”
- Federal prosecutors have pushed for a sale of Chrome, saying the browser has “fortified” Google’s dominance in the search market—a court decision is expected this month according to multiple outlets.
- Perplexity, which recently raked in $100 million in funding to bring its valuation to $18 billion, wrote in a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai the bid for Chrome is “designed to satisfy an antitrust remedy” by putting Chrome in the hands of “a capable, independent operator,” the Journal reported.
- Forbes has reached out to Perplexity and Google for comment.
How Would Buying Chrome Benefit Perplexity’s Search Engine?
Perplexity would own “the front door to the internet,” according to Rowan Stone, the CEO of AI training firm Sapien. Stone told Forbes that Perplexity would get “web-scale behavioral data” to train its search engine on and a “built-in runway to drive mass adoption of its AI-driven search experience.” Buying Chrome would also give Perplexity a massive leg up on competitors who would likely end up fighting for users through apps and software add-ons, Stone added, noting Perplexity could instead bake new monetization models and AI systems directly into its core browsing experience. “If the deal closes, it could reset the competitive race overnight,” Stone said.
Who Else Has Shown Interest In Buying Chrome?
Nick Turley, head of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, said in April his company would be interested in buying the browser if it officially spun off. Turley said OpenAI “could offer a really incredible experience” if ChatGPT and Chrome combined, adding OpenAI would “have the ability to introduce users into what an AI first experience looks like.” Yahoo is another potential Chrome buyer according to Digiday, which noted that Yahoo Search GM Brian Provost said during testimony at Google’s antitrust trial that Yahoo has spoken with other companies about acquiring a browser. If it made an offer for Chrome, Yahoo would have help from its parent firm Apollo Global Management.
Big Number
$50 billion. That is the high-end valuation Google could fetch for Chrome if it was forced to sell the browser, according to multiple outlets.
Key Background
Google has strongly pushed against the sale of Chrome, arguing such a move would “harm consumers, developers and American technological leadership at precisely the moment it is most needed.” The tech titan has also said splitting off parts of its business would “break them.” In a judge’s April ruling against Google, the judge said the company eliminated competitors through acquisitions and “entrenched its monopoly power by imposing anticompetitive policies on its customers and eliminating desirable product features.” Chrome holds a 51.4% search market share as of July, according to Similarweb, making it the most popular web browser in the U.S. over Apple’s Safari (36.2%) and Microsoft Edge (7.4%).
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