Perplexity AI, the fast-growing startup led by CEO Aravind Srinivas and valued at US$18 billion (Rp291.9 trillion), has submitted an official all-cash offer of US$34.5 billion to acquire Google’s Chrome browser − despite its own market valuation being less than half the bid amount.

Chief Business Officer of Perplexity AI, Dmitry Shevelenko, confirmed the move, saying, “Several major investment funds have agreed to fully finance this transaction.”

The company, which has raised roughly US$1 billion from major backers including Nvidia and Japan’s SoftBank, declined to disclose which investors would support the acquisition. According to a report by The Times of India on August 12, 2025, Perplexity has pledged to invest US$3 billion over two years to enhance Chrome’s infrastructure and capabilities as part of the proposal.

Perplexity is also committed to keeping Chromium’s source code open, ensuring that developers can continue building on the platform, and maintaining the browser’s default search engine settings.

“This is part of our commitment to continuity and user choice, and is likely to be seen as offering stability benefits for Google and many of its advertisers,” a Perplexity spokesperson said.

The bid is structured entirely in cash, avoiding any share swaps to sidestep potential antitrust concerns. Perplexity also plans to retain most of Chrome’s existing talent.

This move comes as Google faces a major antitrust lawsuit in the United States, with Federal Judge Amit Mehta expected to rule on whether the company must divest Chrome as part of a corporate breakup.

Chrome, with over three billion users worldwide, is a critical gateway to the AI search market and generates significant advertising revenue from user behavior data. For Perplexity and AI competitors like OpenAI, controlling Chrome would mean direct access to billions of users − potentially accelerating AI-powered search features and chatbot-like integrations.

Google has yet to respond to the offer or indicate any willingness to sell. The US$34.5 billion valuation matches earlier estimates by DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg. If successful, the deal would mark Perplexity’s largest acquisition to date, following its January merger with TikTok’s U.S. operations.