After OpenAI, Perplexity is also interested in Chrome, but how much would Google's browser cost?

Google was therefore convicted of abusing its dominant position in online search last summer. A new trial opened this week, which will allow the American justice system to decide on sanctions. The Department of Justice (DoJ) has requested the splitting of Chrome, which would obviously be a very hard blow for the search engine. Chrome is an obligatory gateway for millions of Internet users (it represents 66% of the global market), and also a window onto advertising. from Google.

A browser at a high price

The prospect of a forced sale of Chrome whets appetites. OpenAI signaled its interest during its trial, but the creator of ChatGPT would not be alone in the ranks, if by chance the dismantling of Google were required. Dmitry Shevelenko, the commercial director of Perplexity, also expressed his interest in such an acquisition!

However, his position is more nuanced than it seems: he explains on the Perplexity blog that he does not want Google to be broken up. However, he advocates for the removal of contractual clauses that oblige manufacturers and operators to pre-install and favor Google apps and services under penalty of sanctions.

This is what Perplexity is trying to do by talking to manufacturers, including Motorola and Samsung, to pre-install its assistant in their smartphones. In one case, negotiations broke down due to the manufacturer's fears of losing revenue paid by Google, or of having contracts canceled.

According to Dmitry Shevelenko, the partnerships imposed by the search engine place manufacturers in a situation of economic blackmail: "Google can cut a significant portion of their revenue if they make a decision it doesn't like."

To return to Chrome, those who want to buy the web browser will have to have deep pockets. Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of DuckDuckGo, invited to testify during the trial, estimated that the check could amount to $50 billion (!). "If [Chrome] goes up for sale, it's out of reach for DuckDuckGo," he said. This is a rough estimate. based on the number of users of the software. Last November, analyst Mandeep Singh calculated a value of 20 billion.