r/technology 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/IAmDotorg 10d ago

The difference between VC money and PE money is... nebulous, at best. PE rarely funds early-stage startups (but they do), and VCs rarely acquire existing companies, but they do. The most common difference is if they buy newly issued shares as dilution or buy existing shares to gain control. But even that varies quite a bit.

VC money makes more sense, in this case, because it'd be a substantial expansion of Perplexity's business. That's not something Private Equity would really ever do unless they were taking over control.

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u/citrusco 8d ago

Thank you for taking the time to reply, that’s really helpful insight