How much is Chrome worth for Google? Perplexity AI says its worth $34.5 billion. We think that’s perplexing. Maybe it was a product of its own AI engine’s hallucination.

Artificial intelligence start-up Perplexity AI has made a surprise $34.5bn (£25.6bn) takeover bid for the world's most popular web browser, Google Chrome. The three-year-old firm, whose backers include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and chip maker Nvidia, is headed by a former Google and OpenAI employee.

In an unlikely bid that shows the growing brashness of young artificial intelligence companies, the A.I. start-up Perplexity has made an unsolicited offer to buy Google’s Chrome web browser for $34.5 billion.