Perplexity went all in. Buying Chrome or just a PR stunt?

The popular AI search engine throws out a $34.5 billion offer for Google’s browser, even though it’s valued at $14-18 billion.

Redakcja

Officially, it’s about development. Unofficially, it’s about showing the business world that Perplexity belongs in the top league. Besides the new Comet brand, there’s room for a giant among browsers. It sounds like a plan to build its own ecosystem: a search engine, a browser and an AI agent. In practice, it’s more of a show of strength aimed at making an impression on the market. But is it really?

All-in package

In addition to the substantial cash sum offered, the package of promises included maintaining the open-source Chromium code, investing $3 billion in the development of Chrome over two years and keeping Google as the default search provider.

Adding Chrome would open the door for Perplexity to billions of users worldwide. It’s a vision of an ecosystem from A to Z — control over the search tool, network access platform and AI as an assistant that supports the user.

The startup took advantage of the moment when the US Department of Justice was examining Google’s monopoly. The possible forced divestiture of Chrome created an opportunity to make a bold move. Judge Amit Mehta is set to announce remedies, although legal skirmishes could last for years.

Perplexity wasn’t the only one to spot the opportunity. OpenAI, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo also inquired about Chrome, with DuckDuckGo reportedly valuing the browser at over $50 billion.

PR or a real strategy?

The startup emphasizes that it has the funds to finalize the acquisition but is not disclosing any details. More and more comments online suggest that it’s more of a PR campaign than a real offer. Perplexity wants to prove that it can enter the game on par with the giants and that their ecosystem project is no joke.

If Google were forced to sell Chrome, which is a very real possibility, a major bidding war would start and $34.5 billion would just be the beginning. What about Perplexity? Even if they don’t buy anything, they’ve already achieved one thing — the business world already considers them a top-tier player.