Perplexity did offer $34.5 billion for Google’s Chrome browser—but Google did not sell it. The August 12, 2025 proposal was an unsolicited, nonbinding offer made while a U.S. court was weighing whether to force Google to divest Chrome. On September 2, the judge rejected a forced sale and ordered other remedies instead.
What Perplexity offered
Perplexity AI proposed an all-cash purchase of Chrome from Alphabet on August 12, 2025. Reuters described the $34.5 billion bid as far above Perplexity’s own valuation. The proposal was a nonbinding term sheet: it was not a completed deal, and the available reporting does not establish that Google accepted it.
Commitments in the proposal
Perplexity presented the offer as a possible way to satisfy remedies in the U.S. search-antitrust case. Reuters reported that the company said it would keep Chromium—the open-source project underlying Chrome and other browsers—open source, invest $3 billion over two years, and make no changes to Chrome’s default search engine. Axios reported additional promises: uninterrupted support for existing customers for at least 100 months after closing and user control over default settings. Those were proposed commitments, not changes that took effect.
Could Perplexity afford a $34.5 billion purchase?
The offer was much larger than the company’s reported valuation, and Perplexity did not publicly identify the investors it said could finance the deal. Reuters reported in 2025 that Perplexity had raised about $1 billion and was last valued at $14 billion. Axios separately reported an $18 billion venture valuation in 2025. Even using the higher figure, the proposed purchase price was nearly twice the reported valuation; using Reuters’ figure, it was more than twice as large.
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Perplexity said multiple funds had offered to finance the deal in full, while Axios reported the company said financing was lined up. The investors were not named in the reporting. Those claims do not establish that financing was independently verified, that funds were committed in a binding transaction, or that Perplexity had $34.5 billion in cash available.
Why Chrome became part of the antitrust case
The U.S. Justice Department argued that Google’s search-distribution practices were unlawful and asked the court to consider requiring Google to sell Chrome and Chromium. The court opinion describes Chrome as an important way users reach search: Chrome’s default accounted for 20% of all searches in the United States, according to the opinion. That search access made ownership of the browser strategically valuable to a company trying to compete in AI search.
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Reuters reported that Perplexity already operated Comet, an AI browser, and saw Chrome’s more than three billion users as strategically valuable in competing with larger AI companies. The proposed purchase would have given Perplexity access to a major browser platform; it was not simply a plan to replace Chrome with Comet.
Did the court force Google to sell Chrome?
No. On September 2, 2025, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta rejected the Justice Department’s request for a forced Chrome divestiture. The Associated Press reported that Mehta called such a sale “incredibly messy and highly risky” and found insufficient proof that Chrome was an essential ingredient of Google’s search monopoly. That decision ended the prospect of a court-ordered Chrome sale under the remedies in this case; it did not turn Perplexity’s offer into a transaction.
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What the court ordered instead
The judgment imposed narrower remedies focused on distribution and access to search-related products and data. It bars specified exclusive distribution arrangements, requires Google to offer qualified competitors search and search-text-ad syndication, and limits the data Google must share. The Justice Department summarized the distribution restriction as prohibiting exclusive contracts relating to Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, and the Gemini app. Google’s regulatory-affairs chief Lee-Anne Mulholland said the court recognized that divesting Chrome and Android would have gone beyond the case’s focus on search distribution and would have harmed consumers and partners.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happens to Chrome now?
Google retained Chrome after the September 2025 ruling. The remedies may affect how Google distributes Search and what it must make available to qualified competitors, but they did not transfer Chrome to Perplexity or another buyer. The proposed $34.5 billion price, financing claims, and investment promises therefore remained part of an uncompleted offer, not the terms of a Chrome acquisition.
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