Illustration: Emily Parsons/Google
Perplexity offered to buy Google Chrome for $34.5 billion. The unsolicited offer from the AI upstart, which reportedly includes several other investors, is nearly double its own $18 billion valuation. Per the Wall Street Journal, Perplexity’s offer may not be a serious attempt to acquire Chrome, but rather a move to convince a federal judge to force Google to sell the web browser by showing that there would be interested parties. After ruling last year that Google operated an illegal search monopoly, the judge, Amit Mehta, is now deciding on an appropriate remedy, including the possibility of ordering that the tech giant break up its empire. Google has resisted calls to sell Chrome, which is believed to be worth between $20 billion and $50 billion.
Trump threatened to sue Powell over Fed building renovations. Trump v. Powell could soon go from a political beef to the literal name of a court case after the president said he is considering allowing a lawsuit against the Fed chair over what he called the “horrible, and grossly incompetent” renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, DC. After months of President Trump hurling insults at Jerome Powell for not raising interest rates, the two butted heads in person last month when Trump toured the Fed building under construction. Standing next to each other in hard hats, Powell corrected Trump when the president claimed that the cost of the renovation had ballooned to $3.1 billion.
Spirit Airlines doubts it can stay in business much longer. The ultra-low-cost airline known for its bright yellow planes and barebones flying experience has “substantial doubt” it can continue to operate over the next 12 months, it told investors yesterday. Weak domestic demand for travel, in part caused by tariffs, has worsened Spirit’s losses—and unlike larger carriers, Spirit can’t offset them with luxury travel. The airline has tried adding more premium options, but that hasn’t been enough to stop the bleeding. It lost $246 million last quarter, up from a $193 million loss the year before.—AE
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