How much is Chrome worth for Google? Perplexity AI says its worth $34.5 billion. We think that’s perplexing. Maybe it was a product of its own AI engine’s hallucination.

Artificial intelligence start-up Perplexity AI has made a surprise $34.5bn (£25.6bn) takeover bid for the world's most popular web browser, Google Chrome. The three-year-old firm, whose backers include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and chip maker Nvidia, is headed by a former Google and OpenAI employee.

Perplexity's $34.5 billion bid to acquire Chrome from Google made headlines worldwide. Discover, Instagram, X — you just couldn't miss the headline, it was everywhere. However, there's a different company that's already outbidding perplexity, and it has mostly gone under the radar.