Artificial-intelligence search startup Perplexity said on Tuesday it has submitted a formal, unsolicited $34.5 billion all-cash offer to Alphabet to acquire the Chrome web browser, according to documents reviewed by several news outlets. The three-year-old company told Google chief executive Sundar Pichai that the proposal is intended to place Chrome with an “independent operator” and would keep Google as the browser’s default search engine. Perplexity, most recently valued at about $18 billion after a July fundraising, said multiple large venture-capital funds have agreed to finance the bid in full. A term sheet seen by Reuters pledges to keep Chrome’s open-source Chromium code base intact and to invest $3 billion in the product over the next two years. The company is also reported to be seeking a new funding round at a $20 billion valuation. The move comes as U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta considers remedies in the Justice Department’s search-monopoly case against Google. Prosecutors have asked the court to order a divestiture of Chrome, arguing that the browser’s roughly 60 % global market share and more than three billion users reinforce Google’s dominance. Google is appealing the underlying verdict and has not signalled any willingness to sell Chrome. Analysts question whether Alphabet would entertain a sale, estimating the browser could command $50 billion to $100 billion if a forced divestiture were upheld. Alphabet shares rose about 1.6 % after reports of the approach, while some observers characterised Perplexity’s offer—nearly double its own valuation—as an audacious attempt to influence the antitrust debate and raise its profile in the rapidly intensifying AI-search race.