Business news live: AI start-up Perplexity launches shock £25bn bid for Google Chrome

Stock markets keep on rising – not necessarily every day, but record levels keep being hit. That’s true in the US, the UK, some European and Asian nations…investing has been profitable in 2025 once more.

How long will it go on? And what should investors watch out for?

“Animal spirits are definitely in charge of the market right now, as investors embrace the potential for the Fed to cut interest rates in the wake of what was seen as a soft inflation reading in the US,” says Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“While there are only tentative signs of tariffs showing up in US consumer prices, they may be more of a subtle, slow burn which aren’t immediately apparent in the headline rate right now.

“Global stocks are at record highs, so anyone who has taken on equity risk with their savings will see plump valuations in their investment accounts right now. Long may that continue, though of course the volatility of the market means at some point there will be a slide, the question is: how much higher will markets be before that happens?

“The relief rally from tariffs being less bad than expected has propelled stock markets far beyond where they were before Liberation Day, which does set some alarm bells ringing. But when markets are in this kind of mood, sitting on the sidelines can be extremely painful.

“The important thing is that over the long term, an investment in shares has historically shown a very clean set of heels to cash savings. Those who are concerned about current market levels might think about investing regularly, to smooth out the journey and protect themselves from any nasty downdrafts in the short term.”

If you’ve not seen yet, new reports today say the government are planning to overhaul Inheritance Tax to get rid of the seven-year rule: if you gift money to family, after seven years it’s no longer part of an inheritance estate, essentially.

They also are considering a lifetime cap on what you can gift to family at all before it’s taxable.

John O’Connell of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said in response:

“As if hammering family farms and clobbering small businesses wasn’t enough, Reeves now wants to launch a smash and grab on presents to children and grandchildren.

“This is nothing more than a shameless cash grab to paper over the cracks of a government that can’t control its own spending. Punishing parents and grandparents for treating their loved ones is little more than the politics of envy.

“Not only should this vindictive policy be ruled out immediately, but inheritance tax itself should be scrapped in its entirety.”

Apparently, there’s a petition going around to get the government to raise the state pension amount to £586 per week – well over double the current amount.

The “thinking” behind the figure is its equivalent to a National Living Wage for 48 hours of work. The petition also asks for this to be given to everybody aged 60 or over including expats.

To be clear on how ridiculous and impossible this is, for 2023-24, the cost of the state pension is estimated to be around £138 billion – more than 5% of the entire UK GDP already, and projected to rise to above 7% over the coming years as inflation and wage growth pushes it higher.

Tomorrow is A Level results day – if that’s you or one of your children, it’s time to learn to manage your money while at university.

Here’s a great guide for everything you need to know:

A trade union has announced a strike at Gatwick airport from next week which it claims will put all departing flights at risk of disruption.

Unite said baggage screeners employed by ICTS will walk out in a dispute over pay from August 22-26 – which includes a bank holiday weekend – and August 29 to September 2.

The union said the workers are among the lowest paid at the West Sussex airport, earning “just above the minimum wage”.

Might as well ask the product itself, right? A quick prompt into the Perplexity browser with the following question:

“Why has perplexity bid to buy chrome browser?”

Has given a list of “key reasons”.

Antitrust opportunity, strategic move and marketing, promises to users, AI and data access and competitive edge are all cited as being reasons for the move.

Obviously, these are sourced from most of the overnight reports from Wall St Journal and the like, but a fun one to mess with its own non-existent head nonetheless.

Here’s a quick roundup of the morning company news courtesy of PA:

• Housebuilder Persimmon said it has sold more homes this year but warned that still-high mortgage rates and rising household costs were making it less affordable for buyers. It completed the sale of 4,605 homes in the first half of 2025, 4% more than the same period last year. The average sale price of a home jumped by 8% to about £284,000.
• Holiday giant Tui has revealed a jump in profits despite a “challenging” backdrop linked to European heat waves and conflict in the Middle East. Bosses at the firm stressed that the group has been boosted by its recent growth strategy. The update came a day after the company upgraded its financial forecasts for the current year.
• Shoe Zone has halved its profit guidance in the face of weaker consumer spending, partly blaming the impact of the Labour Government’s budget tax hikes. The high street chain said it was knocked back by “challenging trading conditions” in both June and July. It told shareholders that is saw a further drop in consumer confidence “following on from the Government’s October 2024 budget announcement”.

Tech founder and investor Heath Ahrens isn’t buying what Perplexity are selling.

In terms of the bid being serious, that is.

The bid is a “stunt, and nowhere near Chrome’s true value, given its unmatched data and reach,” he told the BBC.

“The offer isn’t serious, but if someone like Sam Altman or Elon Musk tripled it, they could genuinely secure dominance for their AI.”

Altman is CEO of Open AI, while Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla, has his own AI model in Grok which is owned by xAI.

A quick check in on the UK stock market this morning, with investors generally positive overnight ahead of expected interest rate cuts in the US next month.

The FTSE 100 is pretty flat, however, up just 0.1 per cent this morning – France and Germany are +0.3pc and +0.6pc respectively.

Housebuilder Persimmon reported increased revenues of 12%, with scope for slight margin growth next year.

Build cost inflation and affordability are among the challenges faced at present but they say the housing market can continue to progress gradually.

Time for a first bit of industry comment on that Perplexity bid perhaps.

Ben Barringer, global technology analyst at Quilter Cheviot, says it may just be a starting point to sound out a deal rather than an all-in take-it-or-leave-it offer.

“This bid from Perplexity is as much about making a statement as it is about securing a deal. With a U.S. judge expected to soon set out remedies in the Department of Justice’s case against Google, one possible outcome is a forced sale of Chrome,” Mr Barringer said.

“Perplexity, as an AI-driven search engine with its own browser, Comet, has been tactical in stepping forward now.

“The $34.5 billion offer is widely seen as undervaluing Chrome, so in many ways this is about starting the price discovery process. Owning Chrome would clearly be a win for Perplexity, given it competes directly with Google, but the question is whether Google would rather see it in the hands of a different buyer.

“At its core, this move speaks to three things: positioning ahead of potential remedies, sparking debate on Chrome’s true value, and increasing competitive pressure on Google.”