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.

Other high-profile AI chatbots include Google's Gemini, Anthropic's Claude, Microsoft's Copilot, Meta Platform's Llama, and DeepSeek — a Chinese chatbot that created a stir earlier this year because it was reportedly developed for just $6 million.

Perplexity AI made a $34.5 billion unsolicited all-cash offer for Alphabet's Chrome browser on Tuesday, a bid far above its own valuation as the startup reaches for the browser's billions of users pivotal to the AI search race.