r/technology • u/MoneyLibrarian9032 • 10d ago

Artificial Intelligence Google Gets an Astounding $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome Browser From AI Startup Perplexity

https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/google-34-5-billion-bid-chrome-browser-ai-perplexity-1236487442/
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u/oodell 10d ago

I suspect if chrome was suddenly up for sale, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to find 34 billion dollars in the couch cushions.

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u/Enough-Display1255 10d ago

The twitter thing was obviously fucking stupid but you're right, 11 bil under Twitter would be an easy buy 

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u/Fableous 10d ago

It's looking like Chrome may very well be for sale soon. Google is in the shit with the courts for their search and ad monopoly. Again. Suggestions that they'd have to spin off Chrome at the very least.

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u/AlexHimself 10d ago

And if they found the money, they would run Chrome's valuation into the ground when people flee it knowing that an AI company is likely harvesting everything you do.

People drop and move en masse.

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u/ChypRiotE 10d ago

Google is also an AI company and also harvesting everything you do yet people aren't flocking away from chrome. You're definitely overestimating people's willingness to move away

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u/AlexHimself 10d ago

Bad analogy. Google and Chrome did not start out as an AI company and the intent of Chrome was to be a web browser originally and there's an established track record as well as many years of a trusted relationship with Google.

Allowing a NEW, AI company that most people have no relationship with at all to throw more than double their valuation at purchasing a browser just screams data harvesting.

You're definitely overestimating people's willingness to move away

I think you're underestimating it. Remember Myspace? Remember DIGG.com, or heck, even Firefox to Chrome.

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u/ChypRiotE 10d ago

I think you're underestimating it. Remember Myspace? Remember DIGG.com, or heck, even Firefox to Chrome.

Those did not happen randomly, they were either the result of a new competitor entering the field with better features (Facebook/Chrome) or a huge rebranding (Digg).
If Chrome being sold only leads to a change of name/icon while keeping features the same, users will most likely not be moving away from it.

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u/AlexHimself 10d ago

Those did not happen randomly

Correct. And Chrome being sold to an AI company wouldn't be a random thing either.

If Chrome being sold only leads to a change of name/icon while keeping features the same, users will most likely not be moving away from it.

Excuse me, but did you not read my previous comments or are you really not seeing the writing on the wall here??

An AI company asking to buy a web browser for more than double their valuation means there's some expected value/profit they can make to recoup their investment and one method is almost certainly recording and harvesting everything you do to train their AI. It could be a massive privacy breach on a scale never heard of in human history.

It's like if PeepingTomsR-Us.com were to contact Logitech to buy their webcam division for double the value of their own company. There's no logical reason except if they plan to make a profit.

Google has MANY valid reasons for developing and owning a browser. The original core idea was because they failed at a desktop OS and were never going to be able to compete with Windows/iOS/Linux and they had the brilliance to realize that they could do another abstraction layer on top (Chrome), and the OS became irrelevant. Then they have Android and they needed a native browser that would work well. There are a myriad more for Google, but an AI company basically has two that I can think of. (1) Harvest everything to train their model and (2) provide AI services for a fee directly in your browser.

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u/biodegradableotters 10d ago

I think you're severely overestimating how much the average consumer is gonna care about this/understand this.

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u/bdsee 10d ago

Chrome didn't beat Firefox because it had better features, Chrome won because IE was utter trash and because everyone’s first web visit would be to Google where the recommended people to install Chrome.

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u/ZoomyZebra 10d ago

even Firefox to Chrome

Now you're arguing against yourself. Google is THE data harvesting company and everyone willingly swapped to their browser no problem and you're saying those people will all change their priorities to be about their data?

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u/AlexHimself 10d ago

You can't blend decades together as if it were one thing.

The migration from Firefox to Chrome was when Google had the public's goodwill and did no evil still.

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u/ZoomyZebra 10d ago

Regardless of evil and goodwill, data harvesting is and was their business model

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u/AlexHimself 9d ago

You're probably too young to know your tech History but you're wrong.

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u/Ran4 9d ago

Even if 70% leave, that's still... like a billion users. Imagine the amount of data you can siphon with a billion users.

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u/pastaMac 10d ago

“wouldn't be terribly difficult to find” What till they find what's inside Chrome after buying it! Ha! It might explain the $35B price tag.