Media: Perplexity offered Google to buy Chrome for $34.5 billion

13.08.2025

Vladimir Sleeper AI startup Perplexity proposed that Google buy the Chrome browser for $34.5 billion. This is reported by CNBC citing a source.

The specified amount exceeds the current valuation of the AI company; however, several investors have agreed to assist in financing the deal.

In July, Perplexity was valued at $18 billion in an additional funding round. The company is developing an artificial intelligence-based search engine that provides simple answers and links to original sources on the internet. The product is also in demand for fact-checking.

In July, Perplexity launched its own AI-based web browser — Comet.

The startup's proposal was made after the U.S. Department of Justice urged Google to sell Chrome as part of an antitrust lawsuit that the company lost last year. The court ruled that the corporation holds an illegal monopoly in a key market for it — internet search.

In response, Google stated that the Ministry of Justice is promoting a "radical interventionist agenda," and characterized the agency's proposal as "extremely excessive." The company has not yet announced how it plans to restructure its business following the antitrust ruling.

Launched in 2008, Chrome provides the search engine with data used for targeted advertising. The Ministry of Justice noted in a document submitted after the court's decision that Google's abandonment of the browser would create more equal conditions for competitors in the search market.

"To remedy these violations, [the initially proposed final remedy] requires Google to sell Chrome, which would permanently terminate Google’s control over this key access point to search and allow competing search engines to access the browser, which for many users is the gateway to the internet," said the Justice Department.

Recall that in April, OpenAI showed interest in purchasing Chrome.