Google Chrome users — you could be seeing significant changes to your browser sooner rather than later.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) start-up company Perplexity has made an unexpected $34.5 billion (roughly £25.4bn) bid to purchase the Chrome browser from Google, despite the startup itself being worth only $18 billion (roughly £13.2bn).
Perplexity hosts a conversational search engine, designed to provide clear, context-aware responses to user queries—drawing from real-time web sources and delivering answers with embedded citations, like ChatGPT and Claude AI.
This bold move arrives as a US federal judge ruled that Google violated antitrust laws, which are regulations designed to promote fair competition in the marketplace by preventing monopolies and other anti-competitive practices.
The ruling confirms that Google has monopolised online advertising technology. This means Google has been found to have an unfair advantage in its tools to manage ad inventory and in the platforms where ad space is bought and sold.
This isn't the first time Google has gotten itself into hot water, either. This is the second antitrust case Google has lost in a year, as it was also found that Google has a monopoly in online search, controlling 90% of the market.
For context, Chrome commands a global audience of 3.5 billion people, which is over 40% of the Earth's entire population.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai cautioned that selling Chrome would create "many unintended consequences," including cybersecurity risks.
| GETTY IMAGESSo, what does this mean for Google Chrome users?
The US government is arguing that Google and its parent company, Alphabet, should be broken up to prevent future antitrust laws from being broken — resulting in the offer made by Perplexity.
For you as a user, these legal proceedings could reshape how you access the internet, potentially ending Google's integrated control over both your browser and search experience.
Google, however, has expressed discontent with the outcome of the ruling. During court proceedings, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, described the proposed remedies as "extraordinary" and warned they would make Google's search investments "unviable."
He also cautioned that selling Chrome would create "many unintended consequences," including cybersecurity risks. This is because the sale of the web browser could result in a loss of Google's core infrastructure, which is set up to protect against system hackers.
Perplexity described its proposal as "designed to satisfy an antitrust remedy in the highest public interest by placing Chrome with a capable, independent operator."
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If this offer by Perplexity is accepted by Google, this could mean experiencing a different approach to web browsing, potentially with less advertising integrated into search results and more AI-powered features designed to help you navigate the internet more efficiently.
Possible AI-powered features could include:
- AI assistants
- AI-powered summarisation of content
- Personalised browsing
While Google already offers its own version of these features with Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE), Perplexity may be able to take it a step further since AI has been the company's main focus since its inception.
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For instance, Perplexity recently launched Comet, which is described by CEO Aravind Srinivas as a "cognitive operating system," demonstrating their vision for browsers that understand natural language commands for complex tasks like scheduling appointments or completing purchases.
In correspondence with Mr. Pichai, Perplexity described its proposal as "designed to satisfy an antitrust remedy in the highest public interest by placing Chrome with a capable, independent operator."
But how can Perplexity afford this massive deal?
Perplexity is based in San Francisco and was only just founded in August 2022, and its offer is nearly double what they're worth.
The startup's chief business officer, Dmitry Shevelenko, confirmed that "multiple large investment funds have agreed to finance the transaction in full," with the company pledging to invest over $3 billion in Chrome and Chromium development over the course of two years if successful.
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