Perplexity's unsolicited $34.5B bid for Chrome with claimed VC backing is clearly a marketing stunt and maybe a signal to the judge in Google's antitrust case

Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome — With its unsolicited bid for Google's browser …

Spyglass 2025-08-13 M.G. Siegler

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@dbreunig Drew Breunig on x
@mgsiegler If you ask Perplexity (or Google, for that matter), the AI summary usually lists Chrome's user base as 3.45B people. I checked right after the bid PR launched, wondering how they came up with $34.5B - then realized they'd done the same search I did and just 10x'ed it
@eastdakota Matthew Prince on x
🤡
@openwebadvocacy @openwebadvocacy on x
Perplexity just offered $34.5B to buy Chrome! 🚨The big question: without a legal obligation, will they fund the web platform that the world relies on at anywhere near Google's ~$1B/year level? Our answer: probably not. 🧵 Let's break it down
r/webdev r on reddit
Can Perplexity Afford to Fund the Web? The $34.5 Billion-Dollar Question
@bikeengineer @bikeengineer on bluesky
You should expect Chrome enshitification to rapidly accelerate [embedded post]
@chappelltracker Chappell Ellison on bluesky
does anyone else think it should be a rule that between the government and the internet, only one can be an unhinged hellscape at a time [embedded post]
@darthbluesky @darthbluesky on bluesky
“we have top men working on it right now” — “who” — “top...men” [embedded post]
@jake.sooscreek.productions Jake on bluesky
I'm reminded of the fact that Edge actually significantly eroded its security implementations by switching to Chrome internally — No reason [embedded post]
@hrbrmstr.dev @hrbrmstr.dev on bluesky
This is a really bad thing. — Pplx is a terrible company and I'll downgrade to Safari Tech Preview full time if this happens. — Rly hope the new render engine+browser shell projects speed-run to usable. [embedded post]
@hunterwalk.com @hunterwalk.com on bluesky
hahahahahahahaha — ok perplexity, i'll offer $34.6B [embedded post]
@blowdart.me Barry Dorrans on bluesky
And you thought Google owning chrome to try to kill advertising rivals was bad ... [embedded post]
@mgsiegler.com M.G. Siegler on bluesky
I shall raise the offer to $34.6B. — Much like Perplexity, I just need someone to loan me $34.6B. [embedded post]
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
Google Chrome isn't worth $35 billion, let alone $3.5 billion, without the Google user base. Browsers are completely commoditized and their core tech is open source. Absolute head scratcher. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@highyieldharry @highyieldharry on x
I think being boastful and confident is good for startups But everything Perplexity does rubs people the wrong way. You're replacing the Bloomberg terminal AND buying google chrome for more than your current EV? Go off King.
@eric_seufert Eric Seufert on x
Perplexity's bid for Chrome strikes me as a clumsy attempt to stay relevant and to set a price floor. I also don't see how they could commit to supporting Chromium development. [image]
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
@markgurman The Google Chrome user base is well worth the price and would add massive momentum to any conversational AI upstart. Its search default is the primary reason for Windows and Android users to use Google Search instead of better alternatives.
@richardsocher Richard Socher on x
You . com offers to buy perplexity. Money is totally in the bank and ready to go. Also, Google, we offer to buy them also. TikTok? Certainly, for good measure.
@kimmonismus @kimmonismus on x
This would spread the distribution of “comet” immensely. [image]
@sri_batchu Sri Batchu on x
Perplexity PR team's ability to get tier 1 coverage with completely spurious stories is impressive
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
this is the cluely school of marketing — leak what is most likely a completely improbable bid in order to keep your name out there my eyes are rolling out of my head
@dylanbyers Dylan Byers on x
Artificial-intelligence startup Perplexity on Tuesday offered to purchase Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion as it works to challenge the tech giant's web-search dominance https://www.wsj.com/...
r/singularity r on reddit
Perplexity offers to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion
r/wallstreetbets r on reddit
GOOGLE Chrome For Sale?
r/artificial r on reddit
Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome
r/diabrowser r on reddit
Comet creator, Perplexity wants to buy Chrome.
r/BetterOffline r on reddit
Perplexity offers to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion
r/business r on reddit
Perplexity offers to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion
r/IndianStreetBets r on reddit
Perplexity offers to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion
r/chrome r on reddit
Perplexity offers to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion
r/google r on reddit
Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome
r/technology r on reddit
Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome
r/perplexity_ai r on reddit
Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome

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Perplexity's unsolicited $34.5B bid for Chrome with claimed VC backing is clearly a marketing stunt and maybe a signal to the judge in Google's antitrust case

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