Perplexity’s bid to buy Chrome is likely more stunt than strategy

The AI search startup Perplexity has tendered an unsolicited offer to buy Google’s Chrome browser for $34.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The bid comes as the Justice Department has asked a federal judge to require Google to sell off Chrome to end an ongoing antitrust case. But it’s questionable that a startup valued at half that amount on paper ($18 billion) can afford to buy Chrome; and Google, of course, almost certainly has no intention of selling it—at least not yet. (Google didn’t immidiately respond to a request for comment.)

A federal court in Washington, D.C., decided last year that Google holds a monopoly in the internet search and advertising markets and is now considering a Department of Justice demand that the search giant sell off its Chrome browser. Google call