Perplexity offers to acquire Chrome for $34.5B, significantly more than Perplexity's estimated $18B valuation, and says large VC funds agreed to back the deal
Perplexity AI just made a $34.5b unsolicited offer for Google's Chrome browser … Mashable : Google received a ‘longshot’ $34 billion offer for Chrome from a surprising source Adam Spatacco / Motley Fool : Could Perplexity's $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome Ignite the Biggest Shift in Search Since Google Itself? Mark Sullivan / Fast Company : Perplexity's bid to buy Chrome is likely more stunt than strategy Seyifunmi Abdulazeez / The Guardian Nigeria : $18bn AI firm Perplexity offers $34.5bn to buy Chrome TJ Denzer / Shacknews : Perplexity AI company has offered to buy Google Chrome for $34.5 billion Erin Davis / Entrepreneur : An AI Startup Just Made an Unsolicited $34.5 Billion Bid for Chrome. Here's Why a Sale Could Happen, Whether Google Wants It or Not. John Gruber / Daring Fireball : Perplexity Jumps the Shark, Makes Clownish $34.5 Billion Stunt Offer to Buy Chrome From Google Financial Times : Perplexity offers to buy Google Chrome for $35bn Henry Khederian / Benzinga : Google Chrome Targeted In $34.5B Bid By AI Rival Perplexity Amid Antitrust Case: Report Matt Horne / Android Authority : Chrome isn't for sale, but Perplexity just offered $34.5 billion anyway Austin Blake / iPhone in Canada : Perplexity Offers Whopping $34.5 Billion to Buy Google Chrome Raquel ‘Rocky’ Harris / The Wrap : AI Startup Perplexity Bids $34.5 Billion to Acquire Google Chrome Karandeep Singh Oberoi / Android Police : Perplexity makes a $34.5 billion bid for Google Chrome Jon Swartz / Techstrong.ai : Perplexity Bids $34.5 Billion for Google Chrome: Reports Chris Benson / UPI : AI startup Perplexity offers to buy Google Chrome for $34.5B Dan Primack / Axios : AI upstart Perplexity makes $34.5B offer for Google's Chrome Bluesky: @bikeengineer : You should expect Chrome enshitification to rapidly accelerate [embedded post] Chappell Ellison / @chappelltracker : 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 : “we have top men working on it right now” — “who” — “top...men” [embedded post] Jake / @jake.sooscreek.productions : 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 : 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 : hahahahahahahaha — ok perplexity, i'll offer $34.6B [embedded post] Barry Dorrans / @blowdart.me : And you thought Google owning chrome to try to kill advertising rivals was bad ... [embedded post] M.G. Siegler / @mgsiegler.com : I shall raise the offer to $34.6B. — Much like Perplexity, I just need someone to loan me $34.6B. [embedded post] Threads: JA Westenberg / @joanwestenberg : Why Perplexity's $34.5B Chrome offer is the perfect 2025 tech stunt: 1/ They don't have the money 2/ Google won't sell 3/ The math makes no sense 4/ But the headlines are priceless https://www.theindex.media/... Peter Kafka / @pkafka : And when perplexity was talking to Bloomberg about the very same very important story? ALSO an Exclusive. Boom. Class is over, enjoy your day. Thank me later. John Gruber / @gruber : “I've got an exclusive for you. We're offering Google $34.5 billion to buy Chrome.” “You're not talking to anyone else?” “Nope, exclusive for the Journal. I definitely do not have a colleague sitting next to me on the phone with Bloomberg as we speak.” Peter Kafka / @pkafka : This is why it seems easy to critique journalists from the cheap seats. If you really want to do it you need domain knowledge. Let me school you, for free: as you may have learned in class, or at the movies, it's impossible for one person to be in two places at the same time. … Tom Gara / @tomgara : Oh absolutely, we have the full $35 billion in financing lined up. It's with our banker, he lives in Canada Harry McCracken / @technologizer : Seems silly. But then again, is ANY company a logical candidate to acquire Chrome? https://www.wsj.com/... Benedict Evans / @benedictevans : Sometimes it seems to me that Perplicity is pursuing bullshitting as a user acquisition strategy. X: Mark Gurman / @markgurman : 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 : 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 : 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] Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : @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. Richard Socher / @richardsocher : 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 : This would spread the distribution of “comet” immensely. [image] Sri Batchu / @sri_batchu : Perplexity PR team's ability to get tier 1 coverage with completely spurious stories is impressive Rat King / @mikeisaac : 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 Dylan Byers / @dylanbyers : 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/... Forums: Hacker News : Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5B Offer for Chrome r/singularity : Perplexity offers to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion r/wallstreetbets : GOOGLE Chrome For Sale? r/artificial : Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome r/diabrowser : Comet creator, Perplexity wants to buy Chrome. r/BetterOffline : Perplexity offers to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion r/business : Perplexity offers to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion r/IndianStreetBets : Perplexity offers to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion r/chrome : Perplexity offers to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion r/google : Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome r/technology : Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome r/perplexity_ai : Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome