PerPlexing Google...Perplexity makes surprise $34.5bn bid for Chrome
Perplexity is no stranger to making such bold offers. In January, it made a similar one for TikTok US and had offered to merge with the video-making platform, amid concerns in America about TikTok's Chinese ownership. But does Perplexity have the kind of money to acquire Google Chrome for $34.5 billion?
The all-cash offer made by Aravind Srinivas to acquire Chrome from Sundar Pichai's Alphabet was far beyond Perplexity's own valuation. Perplexity AI Inc, whose artificial intelligence-powered search engine competes with Google, was valued at $18 billion in July after raising fresh capital.
The company brought in $100 million with the financing, Bloomberg reported, quoting a person familiar with the matter.
This deal was an extension of a previous round a few months ago that valued the company at $14 billion, according to the report.
Perplexity, founded by Srinivas in 2022, has raised around $1 billion in funding so far from investors, including Nvidia and Japan's SoftBank.
However, Perplexity did not comment on how exactly it plans to buy Google Chrome. Multiple funds have offered to finance the deal in full, Perplexity said, without naming the funds.
Perplexity already has an AI browser, Comet, that can perform certain tasks on a user's behalf and buying Chrome would allow it to tap the browser's more than three billion users. Google has, however, not offered Chrome up for sale as it plans to challenge a US court ruling last year that found it held an unlawful monopoly in online search.
Chrome has been facing regulatory pressure amid findings of its monopoly in the industry, and companies like OpenAI, Yahoo and private-equity firm Apollo Global Management have also expressed interest to buy the browser.
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