6d ago

Perplexity wants to buy Google Chrome for $34.5 billion, twice the company's value

9to5google.com

Google @lemdro.id

Nemeski @mander.xyz

6d ago

Perplexity wants to buy Google Chrome for $34.5 billion, twice the company's value

9to5google.com /2025/08/12/perplexity-google-chrome-bid/

30 comments

I want to buy chrome for $5.50!
How about you stranger?
- Oof that's more than twice my value.
- I'll lower your offer to $1.00
  
  I see your one dollar and I lower it by a cookie and two chicklets!
- Tree fiddy is the only price I'm willing to pay.
I have mixed feeling about this.
- I don't. This is fundamentally worse than Google owning Chrome.
  
  I think Chrome inevitably losing a lot of market share could be a pretty good result for the web.
  
  What’s wrong with perplexity owning chrome?
- Same
- Please share
  
  Turning the most popular browser further into an AI hellscape.
  Influencing how every other browser (minus Firefox's minuscule marketshare) functions via the engine.
  On the other hand, no longer under googles control.
  
  In order to better understand the user, their prompts, etc and to be able to fully modify websites, these AIs need access to the DOM.
  This is made much more easier if you integrate your AI to a browser.
  So, in theory, the AI could understand what your are currently researching, profile your interest, and provide you answers before you even made a prompt.
I wonder how large of a bid I should send to Microsoft to buy Windows.
But seriously, if they aren't creating their own, better browser to compete and win over users then there is a problem with the market.
If they have 34.5 billion lying around, why don’t they make a new browser themselves?
- Making a new browser is easy. They want to buy a near monopoly over the browser market, not a browser.
  
  Making a new browser is easy.
  Then why doesn't anyone else do it? We have only 3 real browsers.

30 comments