According to resources, on Friday, Bloomberg News said that Apple Inc. had internal talks about acquiring the artificial intelligence firm Perplexity.
As seen in reports, the discussions are still in their primarily phases, and Perplexity’s management has not yet been formally approached. In a comment to Reuters, Perplexity stated that it was not aware of any current or upcoming merger talks with Apple and the Cupertino-based tech company has neither acknowledged nor disputed the allegation.
In the face of increased competition from startups and rivals like Google and Microsoft, major tech companies are stepping up their attempts to increase their presence in generative AI and intelligent search tools. It seems that Apple, which has historically kept quiet about its AI plan, is looking into methods to include AI-driven search into its ecosystem, especially Safari, which is its default web browser.
According to sources cited by Bloomberg, senior executives including Eddy Cue, head of services, and key players in Apple’s AI ambitions spoke with Adrian Perica, head of mergers and acquisitions at the company.
Supported by chipmaker Nvidia, Perplexity has grown significantly in the last few months. Similar to Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the business offers a search interface driven by AI that produces succinct information summaries. According to Bloomberg, the company just concluded a fundraising round that valued it at about $14 billion. If Apple were to pursue a purchase at that price, it would be the biggest transaction in the company’s history.
Moreover, the report also cited that at the beginning of year, all platforms of Me made an attempt to purchase Perplexity. According to reports, the social media behemoth, which just revealed a $14.8 billion investment in AI infrastructure through Scale AI, is creating a new superintelligence division under the direction of Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI.
Apple’s long-standing relationship with Alphabet’s Google, which serves as the default search engine on Apple products, may be gradually ending as a result of the company’s interest in AI-driven search capabilities. The U.S. Department of Justice is currently examining ways to limit Google’s hegemony in internet search, including a plan to prohibit it from compensating businesses for default placement.
Google is still the most popular search engine worldwide, but AI-first platforms like Perplexity and OpenAI’s tools are quickly gaining traction, particularly with younger users who prefer conversational, summarized responses to conventional search results.
Apple hasn’t made a significant acquisition in a while; its most notable acquisition was Beats, which it acquired for $3 billion in 2014. A purchase of Perplexity would mark a dramatic change in Apple’s acquisition approach and highlight the growing significance of artificial intelligence in the company’s long-term plans.
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