Google faces loss of Chrome as Perplexity bid adds drama to looming breakup decision
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Perplexity AI's offer of $34.5 billion for Google's Chrome browser is a lot lower than where some analysts value the business.
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August 13, 2025
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In this articleGOOGL your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTSundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc., during a visit to the Google for Startups campus in Warsaw, Poland, on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025
The EU has established a reputation globally for its aggressive regulation of major nology companies, including the s of Apple and Google over antitrust concerns
Photographer: Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesDamian Lemanski | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesPerplexity AI's bid on Tuesday to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion represents a dramatic moment for the internet giant, a week before it celebrates the 20th anniversary of its IPO.Even if analysts aren't taking the offer very seriously, Perplexity's move marks a turning point
It's the first time an outside party has made such a public and specific effort to strip out a key piece of Google, which is currently awaiting a judge's decision on whether it must take significant divestiture steps ing a ruling last year that the company has held a monopoly in its core market.The ruling was widely viewed as the most important antitrust decision in the industry since the case against Microsoft more than two decades ago
Department of Justice, which filed the landmark case against Google in 2020, indicated after its victory in court that it was considering a possible breakup of Google as an antitrust remedy.Soon after that, the DOJ explicitly called for Google to divest Chrome to create a more equal playing field for competitors
As is, Google bundles and other services into Chrome and preinstalls the browser on Chromebooks
Google Legal Chief Kent Walker said in response to the DOJ that its "apach would result in unprecedented government overreach" and would harm the country's effort to maintain economic and leadership.With the remedies decision expected this month, investors have a lot to consider regarding the future value of Google and parent Alphabet
The company is shelling out tens of billions of dollars a year on artificial intelligence infrastructure and AI services while facing the risk that consumers will be spending a lot less time on traditional as ChatGPT and other AI-powered alternatives vide new ways to access information.But while Alphabet still counts on -related ads for the majority of its revenue, the company has been diversifying over the past decade
October will mark 10 years since the creation of Alphabet as a holding company, with Google as its prime subsidiary."This new structure will allow us to keep tremendous focus on the extraordinary opportunities we have inside of Google," co-founder Larry Page said in a blog post at the time.Page moved from CEO of Google to become chief executive of Alphabet, moting Sundar Pichai, who had been a senior vice president in charge of internet es, to run Google
Four years later, Pichai replaced Page as Alphabet CEO.On Pichai's watch, Alphabet's market cap has jumped more than 150% to $2.5 trillion
With an increasingly dominant position on the internet, Pichai and team have had to continue looking for growth areas, particularly in AI, while simultaneously fending off an aggressive set of regulators in the U.S. and Europe.Analysts have taken the opportunity to place estimated values on Alphabet's various es, partly in the event that the company is ever forced into drastic measures
Some have even suggested it could be a good thing for holders."We believe the only way forward for Alphabet is a complete breakup that would allow investors to own the they actually want," analysts at D.A
Davidson have written in a series of notes this year.Alphabet didn't respond to a request for .Here's a breakdown of how some analysts value Alphabet's top non- assets:Chromewatch now5:0805:08Perplexity offers $34.5 billion for Google ChromeFast MoneyThe browser is key to Alphabet's ad , which uses data from Chrome to help with targeted advertisements
Google originally launched Chrome in 2008 as an effort to "add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the web."Perplexity's offer doesn't stack up to analyst estimates, but it's still much higher than Perplexity's own valuation, which reached $18 billion in July
Perplexity, which is best known for its AI-powered engine that gives users simple answers to inquiries, said investors are on board to foot the bill
However, the company didn't name the spective backers.Barclays analysts called the possibility of a Chrome divestiture a "black swan" risk, warning of a potential 15% to 25% drop in Alphabet's stock should it occur
They estimate that Chrome drives around 35% of Google's revenue.If a deal for Chrome is on the table, analysts at Raymond James value the browser at $50 billion, based on 2.25 billion users and Google's revenue agreements with phone manufacturers that preinstall Chrome on devices.That's inline with where Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of rival company DuckDuckGo, values Chrome
Weinberg, who testified in the antitrust trial, said in April that Chrome could be sold for up to $50 billion if a spinout was required
Weinberg said his estimate was based on "back-of-the-envelope" math, looking at Chrome's user base.Bob O'Donnell of market re firm nalysis Re, cautioned that Chrome is "not directly monetizable," because it serves as a gateway and that it's "not how you measure that from a pure revenue-generating perspective."Google CloudA person takes a photo of the Google Cloud logo, during the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 4, 2025
Albert Gea | ReutersGoogle's cloud unit, which is third in the cloud infrastructure market behind Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, is one of Alphabet's key growth engines and its biggest outside of digital advertising.Google began its big push into the market a decade ago, even though it officially launched what was called the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in 2011
The unit was rebranded as just Google Cloud in 2016
AWS and Azure, Google Cloud generates revenue from es ranging from startups to large enterprises that run workloads on the company's servers
Additionally, customers pay for ducts Google Workspace, the company's suite of ductivity apps and collaboration tools.In 2020, Google began out its cloud in financial statements, starting with revenue
In the fourth quarter of 2020, the first time Google included fit metrics for the unit, it recorded an operating loss of $1.24 billion.The turned fitable in 2023, and is now generating healthy margins
In the second quarter of 2025, Google reported an operating fit for the cloud of $2.8 billion on revenue of $13.6 billion
Demand is so high that the company's cloud services now have a backlog, a measure of future committed revenue, of $106 billion, CFO Anat Ashkenazi said on the earnings call.In March, Google agreed to acquire cloud security vendor Wiz for $32 billion, the company's largest deal ever.Analysts at Wedbush Securities value Google's cloud at $602 billion, while TD Cowen in May put the number at $549 billion
For Raymond James, the valuation is $579 billion.D.A
Davidson analysts, who have the highest ascribed valuation at $682 billion, and TD Cowen analysts note that while Google still trails AWS and Azure, it's growing faster than Amazon's cloud and has the potential for a premium valuation
That's based on its AI infrastructure, strong data analytics stack, and ability to capture more enterprise .It would be "one of the best standalone software stocks," D.A
Davidson analysts wrote in July.YouTubeA Youtube podcast microphone is seen at the Variety Podcasting Brunch Presented By YouTube at Austin per Hotel in Austin, Texas, on March 8, 2025.Mat Hayward | Variety | Getty ImagesGoogle's $1.65 billion purchase of YouTube in 2006 is generally viewed as one of the best acquisitions ever by an internet company, alongside Facebook's $1 billion deal for Instagram in 2012.YouTube is the largest site on the web and a big part of Google's ad
In the second quarter, YouTube ad revenue increased 13% to $9.8 billion, accounting for 14% of Google's total ad sales.Valuation estimates vary tremendously.Dubbing it the "new king of all media," MoffettNathanson values YouTube at between $475 billion and $550 billion, arguing that it's larger and more powerful than any other player in Hollywood
At the top end of that range, YouTube would be worth 22% of all of Alphabet.YouTube recently overtook Netflix, which has a market cap of $515 billion, as the top ing platform in terms of audience engagement.TD Cowen analysts ascribe a much lower valuation at $271 billion
The firm notes that it's one of six Google ducts with more than 2 billion monthly users, along with , Google Maps, Gmail, Android and Chrome
Raymond James says YouTube is worth $306 billion.For 2024, YouTube was the second-largest media company by revenue at $54.2 billion, trailing only Disney
The platform earns revenue from advertising and subscriptions.The TD Cowen analysts said in May that they expect ad revenue to climb 14% this year, and they expect the unit to maintain a double-digit growth rate
There's also a fast-growing subscription side that includes YouTube TV, music and NFL Sunday ticket.Waymowatch now0:2800:28Waymo begins testing self-driving cars with human drivers in New York and PhiladelphiaExecutive EdgeAlphabet's self-driving car company, Waymo, is by far its most high-file success so far outside of Google.Waymo currently operates the largest commercial autonomous ride-hailing fleet in the U.S., with more than 1,500 cars and over 100 million fully driverless miles logged
Rivals Tesla and Amazon's Zoox are still mostly at the testing phase in limited .When Alphabet was formed as Google's parent company, it created an "Other Bets" category to include es that it d to call "moonshots," a term that had already made its way into Google lexicon."We won't become complacent, relying solely on small tweaks as the years wear on," the company wrote in its 2014 annual report, describing its moonshot jects.Waymo was spun out of Google in 2016 to join Other Bets, which on the whole is still losing billions of dollars a year
In the second quarter, Alphabet recorded a loss for the category of $1.2 billion on $373 million in revenue.In its most recent funding round in November, Waymo was valued at $45 billion
The transaction included outside investors Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, Silver Lake, Fidelity and T
Some analysts see the unit worth many multiples of that now
Davidson analysts estimated the valuation at $200 billion or more earlier this month
Oppenheimer assigned a base case valuation of $300 billion, on the assumption that it generates $102 billion in adjusted earnings by 2040.Raymond James values Waymo at $150 billion, with a prediction that rides per week will reach 1.4 million in 2027 and climb to 5.8 million by 2030
TD Cowen estimated Waymo's enterprise mid-point value at $60 billion.Waymo says it now conducts more than 250,000 paid weekly trips in the where it operates commercially, including Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco
The company said it would be expanding to Philadelphia, Dallas and elsewhere.WATCH: Alphabet's 10-year anniversary comes as DOJ decision loomswatch now1:3801:38Alphabet’s 10-year anniversary comes as DOJ decision looms, breakup chatter buildsSquawk Box Asia
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