Category: AI Ethics

đź“° Perplexity AI’s $34.5 Billion Bid for Chrome Shakes the Tech World: Bold Move or Buzz Stunt?

🔍 Intro: A Wild Bid No One Saw Coming

In one of the boldest moves yet by an AI startup, Perplexity AI has made a $34.5 billion all-cash offer to buy Google Chrome the world’s most-used browser. With over 3 billion users, Chrome is arguably the most powerful digital real estate on the internet.

So why is a startup with a $18 – 20 billion valuation swinging this big? And could they actually pull it off?

🚀 Why Perplexity Wants Chrome So Badly

Perplexity isn’t just another LLM wrapper it’s positioning itself as the future of AI search. But to scale, it needs more than a slick UX and smart answers it needs users.

Chrome delivers that in spades.

In its open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas promised:

  • To keep Chromium open-source
  • To maintain Google as the default search engine
  • And to invest $3 billion into Chrome’s development over the next two years

The logic? If Perplexity controls Chrome, it controls the front door to AI search for billions.

đź’° Can They Even Afford This?

Here’s the rub: Perplexity doesn’t have $34.5B lying around.

It’s raised just over $300 million to date, and would need serious backing from investors, private equity, or tech partners to make this happen. Still, sources say Perplexity has “indicative investor interest” to fund the deal if Google bites.

Experts estimate Chrome’s actual value could be $50 – 70 billion or more, especially given its advertising and data potential. So some see this offer as a lowball starter, not a final number.

⚖️ The Antitrust Angle

This isn’t just startup bravado there’s real legal fire under Google right now.

U.S. Judge Amit Mehta is expected to rule soon in a major antitrust case that could force Google to divest Chrome. If that happens, it could trigger a browser bidding war, with rumored interest from:

  • OpenAI
  • Yahoo
  • Major private equity firms

Perplexity may be trying to get ahead of the curve, grabbing headlines and investor goodwill before the courtroom gavel drops.

🤔 Genuine Bid or Clever PR Play?

The internet is divided.

Some call the move a masterclass in viral marketing. After all, Perplexity has pulled this kind of stunt before, including a cheeky letter to buy TikTok.

Others think the startup’s onto something real and that Chrome’s integration with AI-native search is inevitable.

đź”— Reddit users chimed in:

“They don’t even have their own model… this feels like a PR ploy.”
“Still, Chrome for $34.5B would be an absolute steal.”

Whether or not Google responds, Perplexity has succeeded in putting itself front and center in a massive conversation about the future of the web.

đź“Ł Conclusion: This Is Just the Beginning

This isn’t just a headline it’s a turning point.

Perplexity’s aggressive offer for Chrome marks a new era in AI vs legacy tech. It’s about distribution, scale, and who controls the future of internet navigation.

Will Google take the bait? Will regulators force their hand? And is Perplexity really ready to play in the big leagues?

Stay tuned. The browser wars 2.0 are just heating up.

EU Drops Final Code of Practice for Foundation Models -Here’s What’s Inside (and Why Big Tech Is Sweating)

The European Commission’s new voluntary playbook for general-purpose AI kicks off a 12-month countdown to hard-law enforcement. We break down the must-know clauses, industry push-back, and global ripple effects.

Published: 11 July 2025 · 7-min read · by AI Trend Scout

TL;DR Brussels just released the final General-Purpose AI Code of Practice. It is “voluntary” for now but becomes legally binding on 2 August 2026 with fines up to €35 million or 7 % of global revenue. Transparency disclosures, copyright filters and safety stress-tests are now table-stakes for anyone shipping foundation models in Europe.

1. What happened?

The European Commission quietly published its long-awaited General-Purpose AI Code of Practice on 10 July 2025, giving model builders a one-year grace period to align with the AI Act’s next enforcement wave. Although the document is branded “voluntary,” it is effectively a dry-run for legally binding obligations that kick in on 2 August 2026—a timeline the Commission insists will not be delayed.

2. Why this matters

  • Global reach – Any model that ends up in EU products or services is covered.
  • Clock is ticking – One year of voluntary compliance, then real fines (up to €35 million or 7 %).
  • GDPR dĂ©jĂ -vu – The code is being pitched to G7 partners as a template.
  • Reg-tech boom incoming – Get ready for tools that automate model cards, dataset audits and watermarking.

3. What’s inside the Code?

  1. Transparency Pack
    • Model Cards with architecture, training-data summaries, evaluation scores and energy footprints.
    • Dataset provenance plus mandatory labelling of synthetic content.
  2. Copyright Guard-Rails
    • Track copyrighted works in training data or compensate rightsholders.
    • Provide an opt-out and quick takedown channel for creators.
  3. Safety & Systemic-Risk Controls
    • Compulsory red-team reports.
    • Alignment tests and kill-switch procedures for frontier-scale models.
  4. EU AI Office Oversight
    • A public registry of GPAI models plus annual stress-tests—real enforcement powers start in 2026.

4. Industry reaction: “Stop the clock!”

More than 40 heavyweight European brands – Airbus, Mercedes-Benz, Philips, even open-source darling Mistral—signed an open letter urging a two-year delay, calling the rules “unclear, overlapping and increasingly complex.” Brussels’ response: no grace period, no pause.

5. What happens next?

TimelineMilestone
Jul 2025Member States review the Code’s adequacy; Commission issues guidance.
2 Aug 2025AI Act “Wave 2” risk-based rules begin (high-risk systems & GPAI disclosures).
2 Aug 2026Code’s requirements become binding law; fines and market bans start.

6. The bigger picture

  • Open-source frameworks (e.g., Hugging Face) are racing to bundle “EU-ready” compliance kits.
  • VC term sheets now come with “AI-Act-ready” warranties—echoes of GDPR clauses in 2018.
  • US policymakers lose their favourite talking point (“heavy-hit regulation can’t be done”). Watch for renewed lobbying in Washington.
  • Start-ups may pivot to smaller, domain-specific models to dodge exhaustive reporting overhead.

🎯 Key takeaway for builders

If your model touches an EU user, you have 12 months to: document data, prove safety, and label everything—or budget for a compliance team larger than your research team.

Further reading

  • European Commission press release, General-Purpose AI Code of Practice now available (10 July 2025)
  • AP News, EU unveils AI code of practice to help businesses comply with bloc’s rules (11 July 2025)
  • TechXplore, More than 40 EU companies ask Brussels to delay rules (11 July 2025)

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