In a surprising move, Perplexity's Chief Business Officer Dmitry Shevelenko has expressed his company's interest in buying Chrome if Google is forced to sell it as a result of the ongoing antitrust trial. Shevelenko made the offer during his testimony in court, where he was subpoenaed to appear as a witness in the case.

The Justice Department is seeking to break up Google's search monopoly, and one of the proposed remedies is to spin out Chrome, including the open-source Chromium browser. Google has argued that this would be a risky move, as a new owner could charge for the product or fail to maintain it adequately, causing disruptions to the browser industry.

However, Shevelenko believes that Perplexity could successfully take over Chrome and maintain its quality without charging for it. He cited his company's experience in developing AI-powered products and its ability to innovate and improve existing technologies. When asked if Perplexity could run a browser at the scale of Chrome without diminishing its quality or charging for it, Shevelenko responded confidently, "I think we could do it."

This is not the first time Perplexity has expressed interest in acquiring a major technology platform. The company has also indicated its willingness to buy TikTok, which is facing a ban in the US over national security concerns related to its ownership by China-based ByteDance.

Despite his opportunistic pitch, Shevelenko seemed ambivalent about Google being forced to sell Chrome. He warned that it would be concerning to see a company like OpenAI buy Chrome and discontinue its open-source model or fail to adequately support the product. Shevelenko credited the judge's monopoly ruling as the reason Perplexity could even enter into talks with phone manufacturers and browser makers, but emphasized that his company's primary concern is ending Google's search distribution agreements.

Shevelenko's testimony also highlighted the challenges Perplexity faces in competing with Google's search dominance. He described the complex process of setting Perplexity as the default AI assistant on Android phones, which requires navigating a "jungle gym" of settings. Even once Perplexity's assistant is set as the default, it still doesn't have the same standing as Google's, since a user needs to press a button to activate it.

Perplexity has spoken with several phone manufacturers about making it a preloaded search engine or default assistant in the US, but has failed to strike a deal due to Google's restrictive agreements. Shevelenko testified that companies under contract with Google essentially have a "gun to their head" because Google can turn off significant revenue share if they do something Google dislikes.

The outcome of the antitrust trial and the potential sale of Chrome remain uncertain, but Perplexity's offer has added a new twist to the ongoing saga. As the tech industry watches with bated breath, one thing is clear: the stakes are high, and the implications of the trial's outcome will be far-reaching.