Perplexity AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) start-up, has unexpectedly offered USD 34 billion (25 billion pounds) to acquire Google Chrome, the most popular web browser.
A former Google and OpenAI employee leads the three-year-old company and has investors including Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and Nvidia, a chip manufacturer.
Perplexity is among the rising players in the generative AI race, alongside more well-known platforms such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. In July 2025, it launched an AI-powered browser called Comet.
However, the product has been the subject of controversy, especially from media organisations (including the BBC), which have accused it of breaking copyright rules.
However, one investor in the tech sector referred to the offer as a “stunt” that is significantly less than Chrome’s actual worth and pointed out that it is unclear whether the platform is actually for sale.
Google may be ordered to dismantle its search business in a ruling that a US federal judge is expected to make soon. Citing the idea of spinning off Chrome as an “unprecedented proposal” that would harm consumers and security, the company has stated that it would appeal such a ruling.
A spokesman for Perplexity told the BBC that its bid marks an “important commitment to the open web, user choice, and continuity for everyone who has chosen Chrome.”
Three billion people are thought to use Chrome. Two antitrust cases have been filed against Google in the United States, bringing the tech giant’s dominance of the search engine and online advertising market under scrutiny.
A Perplexity representative informed the BBC that the company’s bid represents an “important commitment to the open web, user choice, and continuity for everyone who has chosen Chrome.”
“The public would benefit from Chrome being moved to an independent operator dedicated to user safety,” Perplexity wrote in a letter to Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, the company that owns Google.
“I love their boldness, but this is an unsolicited bid and is not actually funded yet,” Judith MacKenzie, head of Downing Fund Managers, told the BBC’s programme.
Investor Heath Ahrens, who works in the technology sector, described Perplexity’s move as a “stunt, and nowhere near Chrome’s true value, given its unmatched data and reach.”
He went on to say, “The offer is not serious, but if someone like Elon Musk or Sam Altman tripled it, they could genuinely secure dominance for their AI.”
Perplexity AI made headlines in 2025 after offering to buy the American version of TikTok, which faces a September deadline to be sold by its Chinese owner or be banned in the United States.
As part of the proposed takeover, Perplexity said it would continue to have Google as the default search engine within Chrome, though users could adjust their settings. The firm said it would also maintain and support Chromium, a widely used open-source platform that supports Chrome and other browsers, including Microsoft Edge and Opera.