The stump of an AI startup surprised Google's $34.5 billion (£25.6 billion) acquisition offer for Chrome Internet browser.
Moving Chrome to an independent operator who commits to user safety, Perplexity said in a letter to Sundar Pichai, boss of Google's owner Alphabet.
The dominance of Google's search engine and online advertising market is under intense scrutiny, and the tech giant faces years of antitrust laws brought to it by the US Department of Justice.
The BBC contacted Google for comment. The company has not announced plans to sell Chrome, the world's most popular web browser with an estimated 3 billion users.
A federal judge in the United States is set to issue a ruling this month that will confirm that Google is being ordered to dissolve its search business.
However, some analysts say that it is still unclear whether Google will be forced to sell Chrome, so the bid is unlikely to succeed.
Theory Ventures venture capitalist Thomas Tungs also said the offer is much lower than in browsers.
The company said the idea of spin-off of Chrome was an “unprecedented proposal” that would undermine consumers and security, and would appeal such a ruling.
Perplexity's app is one of the rising players in the generation AI race, along with more well-known platforms such as Openai's ChatGpt and Google's Gemini.
Last month, Perplexity launched an AI-powered browser called Comet.
This bid marks “a key commitment to the open web, user choice and continuity for all who choose Chrome.”
As part of the proposed acquisition, Prperxity said it will continue to have Google as its default search engine within Chrome, although users can adjust their settings.
The company said Chromium will also maintain and support Chromium, a widely used open source platform that supports Chrome and other browsers, including Microsoft Edge and Opera.
Confusion did not respond to questions about how the proposed transaction would be funded. In July, the estimate was $18 billion.
The company made headlines earlier this year after offering to buy the American version of Tiktok, then offer to buy Tiktok, which is sold by Chinese owners or faces a deadline banned in the US.
The confusion is reportedly attracting attention from technology giants such as Apple and Facebook owner Meta.
