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AI startup Perplexity has made an unsolicited $34.5B all-cash bid to acquire Google’s Chrome browser, which boasts over 3 billion users worldwide. The bid comes as a federal court considers whether to force Google to divest key assets, including Chrome, after ruling last year that the company holds an illegal monopoly in search and digital advertising. A decision on potential remedies is expected this month. Google, which is appealing the ruling, has shown no willingness to sell.
Perplexity already offers Comet, an AI-powered browser that can perform tasks for users. Acquiring Chrome would vastly expand Perplexity’s user base and strengthen its position against competitors. OpenAI, which is developing its own AI-enabled browser, has also expressed interest in buying Chrome.
Perplexity’s bid includes $3B in investments over two years for Chrome and Chromium, maintaining its open-source status and keeping Google Search as the default. The company says its all-cash offer—backed by investors and exceeding its own $18B valuation—is designed to sidestep potential antitrust challenges. |
Wildfires in Europe killed at least three people yesterday—two in Spain and one in Albania. Thousands of people have been evacuated as blazes broke out across parts of Spain, France, Greece, Portugal, Turkey, and the Balkans.
In many places, the danger is compounded by a dayslong heat wave caused by a persistent high-pressure system pulling warm, dry air across the continent. France and Hungary have seen record-high temperatures, with parts of France placed under the country's highest-level heat alert. Albania, Montenegro, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK have also issued heat advisories. Parts of Spain this week witnessed temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
Since the 1980s, Europe has outpaced other continents in warming, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed of the global average. That trend is partly attributed to reduced air pollution on the continent; efforts to crack down on aerosols have resulted in reduced cloud cover, enabling more solar radiation to reach land (how climatologists predict trends). |
Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Kwon Do-hyung, better known as Do Kwon, pleaded guilty yesterday to federal conspiracy and wire fraud charges, three years after his company's collapse wiped out over $40B in investor assets.
Kwon cofounded Terraform Labs in 2018, creating a digital currency he claimed was pegged to the US dollar—a type of stablecoin. That promise unraveled in May 2022, when a wave of withdrawals sent the currency’s value to near zero within days. The federal government accused Kwon of misleading investors about the stability and value of Terraform's currency.
Under yesterday's plea deal, Kwon will forfeit $19.3M and several properties. Prosecutors may also seek up to a 12-year prison sentence at his Dec. 11 sentencing. After serving half his time, the 33-year-old may be eligible to serve the rest in his native South Korea, where he faces further criminal charges. This deal is separate from a $4.5B civil settlement Kwon and Terraform reached with the US government last year.
PS—Check out 1440's explainer on cryptocurrency here. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> Taylor Swift announces her 12th studio album "The Life of a Showgirl"; Swift will appear on the "New Heights" podcast, cohosted by her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, tonight at 7 pm ET to discuss the album (More) | The rise of Taylor Swift (1440 Topics) |
> UFC CEO Dana White says a fight night will take place at the White House next year on the Fourth of July as part of the recent streaming deal with Paramount (More) |
> Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his agent are accused in lawsuit of "sabotaging" $240M real estate project (More) | 2025 Little League World Series kicks off today; see complete bracket and schedule (More) |
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> Elon Musk threatens lawsuit against Apple, claiming the company artificially boosts OpenAI's app in the App Store; Musk's xAI runs the Grok chatbot, a competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT (More) |
> Seventy-year-old Parkinson's drug shows effectiveness in boosting the body's immune system against tuberculosis; the world's deadliest infectious disease, TB kills an estimated 1.3 million people per year (More) |
> Remains of Dennis Bell, an Antarctic researcher who disappeared in 1959, discovered by Polish team studying a receding glacier on King George Island (More) |
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> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +1.1%, Dow +1.1%, Nasdaq +1.4%), with S&P 500 and Nasdaq notching record highs (More) |
> US consumer price index held steady at 2.7% in July from a year earlier; core inflation—excluding food and energy—rose 3.1% year over year, above forecast of 3% and June's 2.9% annual rise (More) | See breakdown (More) |
> Spirit Airlines warns it might not be able to survive without more cash; comes five months after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy (More) | How bankruptcy works (1440 Topics) | ... and Kodak warns the 133-year-old US film company may go out of business (More) |
The story of Sears: Tomorrow's 1440 Business & Finance newsletter covers the rise and fall of one of America's most iconic retailers. Subscribe here! |
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> DC National Guard troops arrest roughly two dozen people on first day of deployment to combat crime in the nation's capital; soldiers will not carry guns in most cases, per officials (More) | Mexico expels 26 high-ranking cartel figures wanted by US authorities in deal with Trump administration (More) |
> Gunman who targeted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters Friday died by suicide after shooting roughly 200 rounds at CDC buildings (More) | See previous write-up (More) |
> South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee is arrested on corruption charges, including bribery; her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, is jailed on insurrection charges after briefly declaring martial law in December (More) |
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The Salty Science Behind Optimal Hydration |
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Here's a counterintuitive truth: you can drink plenty of water and still be functionally dehydrated. Without enough sodium, your body can’t retain or distribute fluids effectively. Hydration depends on maintaining fluid balance—and sodium is essential to that process. Lose too much through sweat or stress, and you’ll feel it: fatigue, brain fog, cramping, poor sleep.
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Performance-focused hydration is about more than just water. It’s about More Salt, Not Less. Try LMNT today and get a FREE 8 count sample pack with any purchase—plus a money-back guarantee. |
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