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For a relatively small player in the artificial intelligence sector, Perplexity AI certainly gets a lot of press. In the past couple of months, reports have suggested Apple and Meta Platforms have both contemplated buying it. At the same time, Perplexity offered to buy TikTok. And today we got news that Perplexity had offered to buy the Chrome browser from Google for $34.5 billion. Is Perplexity a buyer or a seller? All we know is that none of these deals end up happening. Perhaps Perplexity is just good at getting its name out there to reporters.
The logic of some of these potential deals is a little hard to discern. Given that Perplexity’s AI-powered search engine runs on other companies’ AI models, it’s unclear what Apple or Meta would get from buying the company, aside from inheriting a bunch of copyright infringement lawsuits that Forbes, Wall Street Journal publisher News Corp and Japan’s biggest newspaper have filed against Perplexity. (For more on the copyright issue, see this story. And for more on Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, see our in-depth profile of him.)
As for Perplexity’s TikTok bid, it’s hard to see that as anything more than a cheap way to get attention. You could say the same thing about the Chrome bid, which is pitched at nearly twice Perplexity’s valuation but well below the $50 billion figure one industry executive, during court testimony in April, said Chrome could sell for.
Still, Perplexity knows how to get a headline. Its Chrome offer came shortly before a judge is expected to rule on whether Google should be forced to sell the browser to remedy its illegal search monopoly. In April, when the judge was overseeing a hearing about potential ways of remedying Google’s monopoly, a Perplexity executive testified that the firm would be interested in buying Chrome, which it could use to distribute its app. The only problem is that the smart money is betting the judge won’t order Google to sell Chrome.
Even if he did, there’d be plenty of bidders, including OpenAI, that could certainly pay more than Perplexity. Chrome, the leading internet browser, would be ideal for any AI firm that wants to reach more consumers. A new buyer could simply make its own AI chatbot the default search engine on Chrome, replacing Google. That list might even include xAI owner Elon Musk, who took to X on Monday night to complain that Apple was discriminating against xAI’s Grok chatbot in how it favors OpenAI’s ChatGPT in its App Store. If Chrome is sold, Perplexity almost certainly won’t be the buyer.
Masayoshi Son’s OpenAI Choice
SoftBank stock hit an all-time high on Tuesday, my colleague Cory Weinberg wrote in his Dealmaker newsletter published this evening. That’s despite the awful performance of its Vision Fund 2, which has investment losses of $22 billion so far.
What makes this development intriguing is that Son has a 17.25% stake in the fund himself, and he won’t get distributions until the fund is in the black, which could be a long time away. Its OpenAI investment could give Son a big win—to the detriment of SoftBank shareholders. This column is a must-read.
In Other News
• Stablecoin issuer Circle, which went public in a blockbuster IPO in April, reported second-quarter revenue of $658 million, up 53% a year ago, on growing circulation of its USDC tokens. Circle later filed to sell 2 million new shares.
• CoreWeave said its revenue more than tripled to $1.2 billion in the three months ended June 30, reflecting new deals the AI chip rental firm has struck. But its cash burn rose to nearly $3 billion.
• OpenAI is “preparing to back” a firm to rival Musk’s Neuralink, which aims to implant devices into the brain to treat serious brain-related illnesses, The Financial Times reported Tuesday.
Today on The Information’s TITV
Check out today’s episode of TITV in which we ask Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire about his plans to diversify the company's revenue.
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