Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas has made headlines again with a bold move—on August 12, the startup submitted an unsolicited all-cash offer of $34.5 billion to acquire Alphabet’s Chrome browser. This offer comes months after Srinivas previously expressed interest in acquiring TikTok’s US operations. Backed by major investors like Nvidia and Japan’s SoftBank, the three-year-old Perplexity AI has raised around $1 billion and is currently valued at $14 billion.
Aravind Srinivas, an IIT alumnus, has an estimated net worth of ₹223.8 crore. Despite early academic setbacks, including not securing a computer science seat, Srinivas taught himself Python, excelled in Kaggle competitions, and eventually pursued a PhD in AI at UC Berkeley after interning with AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio. His company reportedly earns $50 million annually, and he also holds investments in companies like Chennai Meenakshi Multispeciality Hospital and eMudhra Ltd.
Perplexity’s offer includes a $3 billion investment over two years, maintaining Chrome’s current search settings and open-source status. However, experts believe Google is unlikely to part with Chrome, a vital component of its AI-driven initiatives.
