On August 12, 2025, the startup specializing in artificial intelligence Perplexity surprised the market by presenting an unsolicited offer of $ 34.5 billion to acquire Google Chrome.
On August 12, 2025, the startup specializing in artificial intelligence Perplexity surprised the market by presenting an unsolicited offer of $ 34.5 billion to acquire the Google Chrome browser. The proposal, formulated in the form of an asset sale, includes several commitments, such as the maintenance of the open source code, an investment of $ 3 billion in the development of chrome over two years, and the conservation of Google as default search engine. This initiative comes in a context of high regulatory pressure in the United States, where an ongoing antitrust case is considering the possible separation of chrome as one of the corrective measures, the decision of the judge Amit Mehta being expected later this month.
For Alphabet, owner of Google, Chrome is a major strategic asset. Much more than just a browser, it serves as a gateway to the company’s ecosystem of products, providing precious data supplying research algorithms, advertising and artificial intelligence resources. Losing Chrome control would be to weaken its competitive position and reduce vertical integration that currently supports its income and technological innovation.
Although Perplexity claims to have investors ready to finance the operation, the offer seems unrealistic, the valuation of the startup being estimated between $ 14 and 18 billion. The operation is therefore essentially marketing, aimed at increasing its notoriety and promoting its own browser, Comet, in a context of competition for the attention of users and legislators. This initiative also strengthens the regulatory narrative that Google has excessive power on the market and that a possible separation of chrome could stimulate competition.
Alphabet has shown no intention to sell the browser and should appeal to any legal decision imposing its sale, a process that could take several years. Legal experts believe that Mehta judge will likely await the end of appeals before requiring any sale. In addition, even in a sales scenario, other interested parties, such as Optai, Yahoo or funds like Apollo Global Management, could position itself, although Google retains an advantage in terms of resources, reputation and user basis.
Economically, analysts estimate the value of chrome between $ 20 and 50 billion, placing Perplexity’s offer in a theoretical range, but difficult to achieve due to the lack of financial capacity of the startup. Nevertheless, the announcement alone already plays a role: to increase regulatory pressure on alphabet, to highlight the strategic value of chrome and to place Perplexity at the center of the public debate on the future of browsers and online research.
Three main scenarios can be considered for the future of alphabet:
Scenario 1 – Successful defense and maintenance of Chrome
Alphabet manages, by legal and political means, to avoid any final decision obliging him to sell Chrome. This would require a combination of prolonged legal resources, lobbying with regulators and voluntary commitments to alleviate antitrust concerns.
Scenario 2-Partial sale or controlled spin-off
If judicial and political pressure intensifies to the point that a separation becomes inevitable, alphabet could opt for a partial chrome spin-off. This could go through an independent subsidiary while retaining contractual links with Google, ensuring that the search engine and the cloud services remain integrated in a privileged manner. Such a measure would reduce the risk of total data loss and integration, but would offer competitors the possibility of influencing the user experience. This scenario could lead to a potential loss of income from 5 to 10 % (8.75 to 17.5 billion dollars per year) if part of the traffic migrates to other search engines.
Scenario 3 – Total sale imposed by justice
It would be the most disruptive scenario. Alphabet would be forced to sell Chrome to a competitor or an investment fund, losing a critical channel for data and users. The impact on advertising revenues could be significant, a large part of the traffic to Google Search coming directly from Chrome. In this case, Alphabet should accelerate its investments on Android, Pixel, YouTube and the generative AI to compensate for the loss of influence on the browsers’ market. The company could also seek to strengthen the presence of Google Search as a default engine in other browsers via several million dollars agreements, as is currently the case with Apple for Safari.
In all scenarios, the strategic role of Chrome remains non -negotiable from a competitive point of view: it guarantees not only direct access to users, but also feeds the data necessary for all central activities of the company. This is why, even in an unfavorable regulatory context, Alphabet should fight intensely to avoid its sale.
