The Perplexity "hail Mary pass" on Google Chrome
This is like one of those “hail Mary passes”* in American football: “In a move that would redraw the map of search and browser economics, Perplexity AI has lodged an unsolicited $34.5 billion bid for Google’s Chrome browser... The offer, roughly double Perplexity’s most recent public valuation stretch last month, signals how high strategic stakes have climbed in the race to control the user gateway to the internet."
Chrome is now an operating system for Google and is worth at least $60 billion. Without Chrome, Google Search will become blind, and Google will be severely diminished. So, this deal has no chance unless the court helps Perplexity by forcing Google to sell Chrome. But even with that, there are other latent suitors including OpenAI and private equity firms which may like to pick the best browser in the world!
*a "Hail Mary" pass in American football refers to a long, high-arcing throw made in desperation, typically at the end of a half or game, with a low probability of success
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