Perplexity's wild $34.5B bid for Google Chrome

AI search upstart Perplexity is swinging for the fences, offering $34.5 billion in cold hard cash to buy Google’s Chrome browser.

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas sent an unsolicited takeover proposal and term sheet to Google and Alphabet chief Sundar Pichai. Codenamed "Project Solomon," the offer lands right as a federal judge prepares to hand down antitrust remedies that could force Google to divest the browser after losing a landmark search monopoly case.

Perplexity gave Google until 6:00 p.m. Pacific on August 15 to sign off.

A $34.5B bid from an $18B startup

Perplexity was valued at $18 billion just last month after a $100 million round, and PitchBook estimates it has raised only about $1.5 billion to date. So how does a minnow buy a blue whale?

According to Srinivas, several large venture capital funds and unnamed investors have fully backed the transaction with no financing contingencies. To sweeten the pot for regulators, Perplexity made some wild commitments: it promises to invest $3 billion over 24 months into Chrome’s security and Chromium open-source project, retain the substantial majority of key staff, and provide a 100-month continuity guarantee for existing users.

Most surprisingly, Perplexity promised it will not hijack the address bar. It pledged to maintain user choice and keep Google as Chrome's default search engine rather than forcing its own AI agent on everyone.

Google didn't respond to requests for comment and has vowed to fight any breakup in court.

Project Solomon meets the antitrust sledgehammer

This isn't happening in a vacuum. The U.S. Department of Justice proposed forcing Google to offload Chrome after proving it illegally locked down distribution deals with companies like Apple and Samsung. Chrome commands about 68% of the global browser market, and DuckDuckGo’s CEO testified in April that the browser could easily fetch upwards of $50 billion.

Perplexity is framing itself as the white-knight remedy: an independent operator stepping in to serve the public interest. Never mind that Perplexity has its own legal messes, including a copyright lawsuit filed in October by Dow Jones and the New York Post, or that it just launched its own browser, Comet, last month.

Why it matters

Nobody seriously expects Sundar Pichai to sign Perplexity’s term sheet by Friday. But as a high-stakes power play, this is borderline genius.

For everyday users, nothing changes today. But this bid turns an abstract courtroom fight into a tangible reality: what happens to the web if Google doesn't control the front door? Perplexity's pledge to keep Google as default while stewarding Chromium is an explicit attempt to neutralize monopoly fears, proving an AI challenger could run the world's most popular browser without burning down the open web.

For the industry, it sets a floor and puts pressure on everyone else. OpenAI reportedly sniffed around Chrome when the DOJ first floated a sale; now Perplexity has put real numbers and signed investor pledges on the record. At $34.5 billion, it’s pitching a discount compared to DuckDuckGo’s $50 billion estimate, daring regulators to take the offer seriously.

That said, the optics have obvious friction. Relying entirely on mystery debt and VC backers to acquire a utility used by billions of people is inherently volatile. But whether Pichai ignores it or not, Perplexity just bought itself tens of millions of dollars in free leverage and solidified its seat at the head of the post-monopoly table.