According to The Wall Street Journal, the proposed purchase price of Chrome is nearly twice Perplexity’s $18 billion valuation and is fully financed by major venture-capital investors.
In a bold move against Google’s (GOOG/GOOGL) search dominance, artificial-intelligence firm Perplexity reportedly made a $34.5 billion bid for the Chrome browser on Tuesday.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the proposed purchase price is nearly twice Perplexity’s $18 billion valuation and is fully financed by major venture-capital investors. It noted that while estimates of Chrome’s enterprise value vary, recent estimates have ranged from $20 billion to $50 billion.
Google-parent Alphabet’s stock rose more than 1% in midday trade. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the tech giant remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day. Meanwhile, retail sentiment around Perplexity was in the ‘neutral’ zone.
In a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai, Perplexity said its bid for Chrome was “designed to satisfy an antitrust remedy in the highest public interest by placing Chrome with a capable, independent operator,” according to the report.
The company added that, if the deal went through, it would maintain and support Chromium and keep Google as the default search engine, while still allowing users to change settings. Chromium is the open-source project behind Chrome and other browsers.
Perplexity’s move comes as U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta weighs whether to order Google to sell Chrome to weaken its grip on web search. Mehta found last year that Google had illegally monopolized the search market and is due to rule later this month on measures to boost competition.
The offer may be intended to show the court there’s an immediate buyer for Chrome if a sale is ordered. Google has pushed back against the idea, with Pichai warning that it would harm the company’s business, slow investment, and create security threats. Chrome commands over 60% of the browser market and has an estimated 3.5 billion users worldwide.
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