Tech Brew Ride Home Wed. 08/13 – Perplexity Wants To Acquire Chrome
80 snips
Aug 14, 2025 An AI startup stirs the pot with a bold $34.5 billion offer to acquire Chrome, raising eyebrows and sparking discussions about antitrust issues. Meanwhile, OpenAI rolls out new updates for GPT-4, further integrating it into popular services like Gmail and Calendar. The podcast also investigates the booming market for AI companion apps, projected to generate $120 million by 2025. Finally, GM reveals its renewed push for self-driving technology, navigating the bumpy road of recent challenges and innovations.
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Stunt Or Strategic Signaling
- Perplexity's $34.5B Chrome bid reads like a publicity stunt aimed at influencing the antitrust narrative.
- The move pressures the judge and signals buyer interest, despite low odds Google would sell Chrome.
OpenAI Reinstates GPT-4 And Adds Connectors
- OpenAI restored GPT-4 as a default for paid users and committed to advance notice if it changes again.
- They also added Gmail, Calendar, and Contacts connectors to make ChatGPT reference Google data directly.
Claude's Massive Context Leap
- Anthropic expanded Claude Sonnet 4's context window to 1 million tokens, outpacing GPT-5 on this metric.
- That strengthens Anthropic's appeal for code-heavy and enterprise uses despite GPT-5 competition.