Best Internet Providers in Spartanburg, South Carolina

In a moonshot move, AI search engine Perplexity has offered to buy Chrome from Google for $34.5 billion cash in an unsolicited offer, Reuters reported and Perplexity has confirmed to TechCrunch.

Perplexity tells TC the terms of the offer include a commitment to keep Chrome’s underlying engine, Chromium, open source and continue to invest in it. Perplexity’s offer includes a promise to invest $3 billion into the open source project.

Perplexity is also promising not to change the user defaults of Chrome users, including the default search engine. That is, Perplexity is promising to leave Google as the search engine rather than making its own AI-powered option the default. 

Google could not be reached for comment. TechCrunch will update the article if the company responds.

This bid comes after the Department of Justice proposed in March that Google be forced to sell Chrome after a judge ruled the tech giant acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search. Google has not agreed to sell Chrome and has vowed to fight the ruling. 

The Perplexity spokesperson believes the court will soon set terms for remedies, perhaps later this month. (Google is also fighting another federal case where the judge ruled it illegally monopolized adtech, and the DOJ is proposing Google be forced to divest two of its adtech products or otherwise break up its ad business.)

When the DOJ first proposed that Google divest Chrome, both OpenAI and Perplexity expressed interest in buying it. Given that Chrome is the dominant browser, with 68% marketshare according to Statcounter, if the court rules Chrome must be sold, no doubt others worldwide would want to bid as well.

Techcrunch event

San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025

Interestingly, the CEO of rival search engine Duck Duck Go testified in April that Chrome could be worth “upwards of $50 billion,” Bloomberg reported at the time. Should Perplexity’s offer succeed, it could be considered a bargain. 

Still, this offer for Chrome is far more than Perplexity has raised from investors and more than the startup’s current valuation. Perplexity has raised about $1.5 billion to date, Pitchbook estimates, including an extension round of $100 million raised last month that valued it at $18 billion, Bloomberg reported.

In the meantime, Perplexity last month launched its own browser, called Comet, in its bid to grow its AI search business without having to serve its customers through a browser, particularly one owned by its main rival Google.

And, by the way, last month, Perplexity also reportedly submitted a bid to merge with TikTok.

Instagram is working on a feature called “Picks” that aims to help users find common interests. The Meta-owned social network confirmed to TechCrunch that Picks is an internal prototype and isn’t being tested externally.

The feature was first spotted by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, who often finds unreleased features while they’re still under development.

According to screenshots shared by Paluzzi, people select their favorite movies, books, TV shows, games, and music, or their “Picks.” Instagram then finds overlaps with friends who chose the same things.

While Instagram hasn’t shared any details about the feature, the company likely views Picks as a way for users to connect more personally with friends and spark conversations around shared interests.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri said earlier this year that the social network was going to focus on creativity and connection in 2025. “To help people connect with friends over the things they discover on Instagram, we’re going to double down on messaging, make consuming content more interactive and social, and explore new ways to connect with friends,” Mosseri wrote in a January Instagram post.

Of course, not everyone will welcome Picks, as it adds yet another feature to an already overcrowded app. Instagram is facing backlash following the launch of Instagram Map, with many users saying they never wanted the feature in the first place.

As with any other feature in development, it’s not known when or if Instagram plans to officially roll out Picks.

Techcrunch event

San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025